Mount Gambier’s main street will be overrun by enchanted creatures when the Fringe Festival comes to town.
The Fringe opening night on March 12 will offer a huge range of events at a variety of venues, designed to kick off the festival with a bang. The festival will start with an opening parade, with members of the community encouraged to don their finest enchanted forest costume and meander from Vansittart Park to the Cave Gardens.
Led by musicians and the experienced marshals of the Zombiewalk team, the parade has been designed to be fun for the whole family. The Cave Gardens will be filled with a range of events, including Dreambolic Art’s installation inside a shipping container, where artist Maharnia will use black lights to create a bioluminescent forest for people to explore.
The opening party will continue at Jens Town Hall Hotel, where there will be local live music, DJ’s, fire and circus performers, local hip hop artist Tripp Belancy, and Melbourne-based Birdz, who claimed the 30th spot on Triple J’s hottest 100 this year.
As part of the party Jens will also host the official Fringe opening Welcome to Country ceremony featuring a First Nation’s smoking ceremony.
Those attending will also be able to catch a nostalgic musical masterpiece at the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre with the Dr Hook tribute show, Hooked in Mount Gambier, or wander across to Metro Bakery and Cafe which will be hosting local live music and DJ’s on the decks, with some special guest drag appearances.
For those who would prefer to get their laughter on, the Ministry of Laughs will be hosting two shows at the South Aussie Hotel, with a combination of local and national stand-up comedians.
If visual art is more your thing, the Limestone Coast Pantry will host an interactive session called ‘Artscape works with wine’, or there will also be Twilight Markets at the Showgrounds, where artist Anthony Hamilton will be painting up his giant robot, or just take in the buskers, and grab some handmade items from the local stall-holders.
Another way to spend the night in laughter, is to laugh at your mates, in the hilarious comedy hypnosis event at the Apple Farm with Cherry Farrow, guaranteed to be 100% chicken free.
Later in the night there will be an opportunity to grab some cocktails at Confession and check out Kate Hill’s incredible F*CK COVID photography exhibition, summing up how a lot of people feel about trying to have a festival in the middle of a pandemic.
Music, laughter, hip hop, fire, comedy, hypnosis, costume-wearing, luminescence, drag, circus acts, busking and shopping. And that’s all just on night one of Optus presents Fringe Mount Gambier.
