The west side's been waiting for this one.
Footscray Community Arts has just dropped the name and design for their new outdoor performance space, Lango, which opens in November. The venue’s replacing the old bluestone amphitheatre that’s been doing the rounds for decades, and it’s shaping up to be a community hub for gigs, markets, ceremonies and everything in between.
Lango means “on the edge” in Woi-Wurrung, a nod to the venue’s spot on the banks of the Maribyrnong River in Footscray. The word was gifted by Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Annette Xiberras, who’s part of Footscray Community Arts’ Indigenous Advisory Group. It comes from a diary of language words kept by her grandmother, making this whole thing part of a bigger push for language preservation and cultural revitalisation.
Lango
- What: New outdoor performance venue opening with free music events
- When: Opens November, first event 31 January 2026 with NOV KAIIT and DJ PGZ
- Where: Footscray Community Arts, Maribyrnong River, Footscray
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The $8.7 million Victorian government-funded project was designed by MGS Architects with landscaping by Simone Bliss Landscape Architects. The centrepiece is a stage with three overlapping shells covered in patterns by First Nations artist Moorina Bonini, drawing from South Eastern Kulin Nations mark-making that represents Ancestors watching over performers.
Bonini, a descendant of the Yorta Yorta Dhulunyagen family clan of Ulupna and the Yorta Yorta, Wurundjeri, and Wiradjuri Briggs/McCrae family, worked with neighbouring blacksmith forge Waterside Metal Art to create a custom fire bowl for First Nations storytelling and smoking ceremonies.
The precinct’s got a pathway called One Path for All that connects the galleries to the stage and riverfront, lined with bluestone salvaged from the old amphitheatre. The surrounding landscape has been reindigenised with native grasses, tree plantings and rain gardens designed to support biodiversity.
To kick things off, Footscray Community Arts is throwing two free music events, with the first locked in for 31 January featuring neo soul singer NOV KAIIT and DJ PGZ.
The venue’s been nine months in the making, though unexpected underground conditions early on bumped up construction costs. Footscray Community Arts is currently fundraising to raise $70,000 by the end of October to get the project over the line.
For more information, head here.
