BIG PICTURE FESTIVAL
If you are in the city this week, you can't miss the machinations of this colourful, transformative large scale art show that sees eight sites gain new, huge murals. The festival's official launch is Friday night from 5pm at Playstate Gallery/Jam's Karoake/The Rogue Scholar on the corner of King and Union streets, with live painting, MCs, spoken word artists, deejays and more. Some of the star artists are sure to be there. Murals will be finalised Saturday and Sunday.
LITTLE FESTIVAL
If you stand in one place long enough this weekend in Newcastle, things will start to happen around you. The Little Festival, a whole lotta art on a small scale, will be filling in the cracks around the Big Picture Festival and New Annual. For instance, on Saturday and Sunday from 9am until noon at Kuwumi Place, the plaza on Hunter Street between Newcastle TAFE and Hunter New England Health, street artist Indo will install a giant "crateman" made out of milk crates. On Saturday, performance artist Alan Schacher will do Sweet Separation from 11am to 4pm at Kuwumi Place, creating a miniature enclosure of sugar cubes to separate him from the public.
KABBA KABURRA
The phenomenal Ripple Effect Band, an all-female rock band from Maningrida in the Northern Territory, supported by Sengalese Afro-blues artist Ilam, will play a show at Earp Distillery in Carrington from 7pm to 10pm on Saturday night as part of the New Annual Festival. The band sings in five Aboriginal languages, with songs about life in the Top End, hunting, Country, cyclones and love.
OLIVE TREE MARKET
The Olive Tree Market will celebrate spring with a collective of new makers and some Newcastle classics. Organisers say they are "excited to welcome two amazingly talented First Nations creatives who you don't want to miss on the day". The markets will start in Civic Park at 9am Sunday. A social enterprise at the market is "Awesome Black Box" which contains contains up to six products from First Nations businesses. The Awesome Black team is 100% First Nations and operates on Wonnarua Country
WEST BEST BLOC FEST
Featuring more than 50 up-and-coming Newy musicians, across six venues in town, West Best Bloc Fest is set to light up the steel city's music scene. Modelled off festivals such as South By South West in Austin, Big Sound in Fortitude Valley & King Street Crawl in Newtown, the day will start at noon at The Family Hotel, Rogue Scholar, Jams Karaoke, Happy Wombat, The Star Hotel and Papa's Bagels and wrap up at around 10pm. Tickets are $35.
LIGHTYEARS FROM HOME
Part of City of Newcastle's New Annual celebrations, Lightyears Far From Home is "part park party, part cabaret, and part epic multimedia spectacular combining a smattering of high impact elements and fun interactive moments of the Integalacular Sci Fi show". Get dressed up and join the silent disco DJ sets, high skill physical performance acts and projection mapping performances set in and on a "full sized spaceship" created by XYZ Dimensions from upcycled industrial waste materials. The events kicks off in Civic Park from 7pm, tickets are $25.
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