Joining the likes of Dark Mofo, RISING, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, The Festival of Voices, GLOW Winter Arts Festival and the East Gippsland Winter Festival, Adelaide’s beachside suburb Gleneg is the latest municipality to announce a new program of winter cultural events.
In partnership with the City of Holdfast Bay, the entertainment hub Gluttony – traditionally associated with Adelaide’s Rymill Park during the Adelaide Fringe – recently launched the inaugural Glenelg Winter Arts Festival.
The new entertainment precinct runs from 6-26 July 2023, and will feature an eclectic array of performers, musicians and comedians, including nationally recognised performers such as Wil Anderson, Rove McManus, Nazeem Hussain and Mel Buttle.
Gluttony Program Director Elena Kirschbaum said in a statement: ‘Glenelg Winter Arts Festival is a fun, new opportunity for Adelaide residents and visitors to celebrate and engage with the arts during winter, in one of Adelaide’s iconic coastal locations.
‘Whether you’re getting together with your mates for a night out, planning a date night or looking for something creative to do with the kids during the school holidays, the festival is your go-to destination,’ Kirschbaum said.
Midwinter rituals
Winter, traditionally an off-peak season for cultural tourism, has become increasingly popular across Australia in recent years.
While Darwin Festival promotes its ‘hot August nights’ as a drawcard for visitors from the chillier southern states, other festivals such as Dark Mofo (first held in 2013 and rapidly establishing a successful template for such events) and Daylesford’s Winter Sounds (held in regional Victoria for the first time last year and returning from 17-20 August) have quickly demonstrated the popularity of arts events in the colder, darker months.
Nor is the popularity of such events always about tourism numbers, hotel nights and artistic programming. As Leigh Carmichael, the outgoing Artistic Director of Dark Mofo told ArtsHub a few years ago, there’s also a more primal connection to explore at such times of year.
‘There are two things that are going on with Dark Mofo – there’s the actual exploration of winter and what winter represents, which is that kind of stillness and beauty and quiet, and then we’re also fascinated by darkness and night. Both of those things come together at Dark Mofo, and that’s a pretty potent combination,’ he told ArtsHub.
‘I think we’re very consciously looking at ritual – the connection with the turning points and the time of the year.’
Read: The allure of art in the dark: why we love winter festivals
Mayor of the City of Holdfast Bay, Amanda Wilson, said the new Glenelg Winter Arts Festival would be a great way to welcome in winter.
‘It’s the best way to kick-start winter and with so much else on offer at Glenelg to enjoy – be it brunch, lunch or dinner with some shopping on Jetty Road in between – there’s never been a better time to stay and play at the Bay,’ she said.
Warming hearts and minds
Running during the school holidays, the Glenelg Winter Arts Festival program includes daily workshops, child-friendly shows and a range of pastimes while, at night, the entertainment line-up skews towards less family-friendly fare.
Fringe favourites including Rachel Vidoni (who took out the title of the Adelaide Fringe’s Best Music Show for 2023) will present new shows, with Vidoni fronting a new production, Her Majesty: The Queen Rock Show.
Creator of Adelaide Fringe hit shows, 80s Ladies and Stevie Wonder tribute show, Wonderfull!, Chloe Castledine will bring her highly anticipated new production, Noughtie Girl to Gleneg Winter Arts Festival, with other highlights including circus and an adults-only magic show.
Two heated big top tents will be erected at Colley Reserve, as well as additional spaces for undercover gathering spaces and market stalls, while fires and throw blankets will help keep people warm.
‘Rug up, jump on the tram from the city, and take a stroll from Jetty Road over to Colley Reserve to enjoy an event like nothing we’ve ever seen before in Holdfast Bay – with live shows involving comedians, magicians and circus performers, painting and art workshops and more for the whole family to enjoy,’ Wilson said.
Glenelg Winter Arts Festival runs from Thursday 6 to Sunday 23 July 2023; see website for details.
