This article was sponsored by Tourism NT
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Top End got a bit weird this month as the Darwin Fringe Festival, which celebrates art outside of the mainstream, took place in locations across the city from July 7-16.
The festival is a hodgepodge of arty types enjoying experimentation, performance and exhibition across a jam-packed ten-day period in Darwin’s dry season.
Think a ‘Harold Holt Pool Party’, a ‘cabaret drag trans-Atlantic cruise’ and a comedy set called ‘Rage Against the Washing Machine’ and you’ll begin to understand the sly irony of the quirky characters that make up the independent arts festival’s richly diverse program.
The 2017 bumper program included events in theatre, cabaret, comedy, visual art, spoken word, music, film, digital and workshops, with an award show recognising the best of the categories on the final night.
The hub of the festival was Brown’s Mart Theatre where live music and pop up performances took place in the sunny courtyard of the historic stone venue.
The Brown’s Mart Theatre was Darwin’s first venue for theatre and live performance, dating back to 1885.
Many events took place at other smaller local venues including the Railway Club, Mayfair Gallery, Darwin Bowls Club and public spaces like Wagait Beach and WWII Storage Tunnels on Darwin’s waterfront.
The much-coveted prize was a golden crocodile statue, an ironic wink to the beasts that ominously lurk in the waters throughout the territory.
The mini-beasts were awarded to the best of each category, including theatre performance ‘How To Make a One Person Fringe Show in 3 Months’, comedy performance ‘Regan Lynch Does It In Public’ and a colourful spoken word performance ‘Eat My Words – Tastes and Tales from Tropical Cooks’.
The Fringe is organised by a young team of passionate Darwin artists, this year headed up by 26-year-old director CJ Fraser-Bell, a 2017 State Finalist for the Young Australian of the Year.
Fraser-Bell has been a longtime contributor to the arts scene in Darwin, including founding artistic theatre co-op Darwin’s Theatre of the Found Collective.
The Darwin Fringe Festival’s aim is to support emerging and established artists from the Territory and beyond who wish to explore art outside of the much-celebrated mainstream artistic community in the Top End and regional NT.
The takeaway from the festival for attendees and volunteers was more than just the good memories – a wide variety of workshops and forums provided a supportive space for the audience to participate in their own artistic experimentation, while training and development for budding artists also took place.
This article was sponsored by Tourism NT