It’s the perfect time to hang out with a cool community and fly a kite at the annual DarebinCommunity Kite Festival. The community festival will take place in Edwardes Lake Park and is running wild all Sunday March 26. This year, the Darebin family have gotten crafty and are going to make it the biggest and most powerful festival yet. It’s all about creativity and culture with heaps of interactive craft stalls, magic shows and performance art and two stages including a FReeZA stage blasting artists like Sandy Hsu, Dear Matilda, Kodiak and Bassline & Thomohawk all day. You can also explore kite-making techniques from all around the world or get involved with some improv theatre. There’s a handy guide at Darebin Arts website.
The Women of the World Festival hits Melbourne from Thursday March 23 to Saturday March 25. Based at the Footscray Community Arts Centre the three-day festival burrows into gender equality and exposes all its remaining issues with a wreath of engaging discussion and inspiring performances. There’s a plethora of events ranging from spoken word to short film screenings to live performances. Like the Women of the World MAKE NOISE outdoor concert which closes the festival with a host of local and international artists; Sampa the Great, Mojo JuJu, Thando, Sugar Fed and more running all day on the Riverside Lawn. Another great looking free festival event is the One-Night-Stanza, headlined by New-York City poet and activist; Mahogany L. Browne and supported by various local poets and musicians. There’s way more events than just those two and you can check them all out on Footscray Arts’ website.
Also on in Footscray this weekend in the wake of the Women of the World Festival is the Lentil as Anything Footscray Fundraiser. On Sunday March 26 the pay-as-you-feel restaurant is throwing a little house concert in a similar (meat-free) vein to raise funds for their Footscray olive branch. Local acts like Vass, Aniseed, Freeform, Myxamatosis are playing while the Barkly St store serves up as much coffee and ‘60s New Age Revival tunes as you can handle. The fundraising show is free but attendees are encouraged to pay whatever they like as any donation is going to help the Footscray Lentil as Anything to continue slinging gorgeous vegetable feasts.
