Summersalt is coming

Summersalt Outdoor Arts Festival is fast approaching, and it is going to turn Southbank’s arts and theatre precinct inside out and bring the fun onto the streets.

Running over five weeks from January 23 to the immensely popular White Night on February 21, Melbourne’s art precinct will entertain the public with music, arts, circus, theatre, dance, film and even aerial acrobatics.

Summersalt Festival director Kirsten Siddle says that the key motivation for the festival is to utilise the summer season and show off more of Southbank’s fantastic concentration of arts and theatre organisations.

“Traditionally, they are focused on our theatre halls and concert halls. We wanted to turn ourselves inside out and bring all that creativity onto the streets so that people can enjoy themselves outside in summer,” Ms Siddle said.

The Summersalt 2015 program is jam-packed with events, many of which encourage participation from kids and families.

The Giant Opera Dress Up Box allows kids to have a go at creating their own theatrical plays by pulling out old costumes, props, a small stage and backdrops that were used in professional productions. Kids will be able to use their imagination to make-believe their own theatre or opera productions.

Gong Garden is an interactive musical journey that will be located on Dodds St between the VCA and Southbank Theatre. A garden oasis filled with gongs from around the world invites visitors to wander through and get involved in the beautiful music of gongs and singing bowls.

“As you follow the path you will discover that we are curating an incredible collection of gongs from all over the world, and you have the chance to play them and learn about them,” Ms Siddle said. “It is lots of fun to join in and create beautiful music together.”

Home will unite the community when they have the chance to depict their idea of home on one of 7000 little houses. Based on the idea that everyone has a different idea of what “home” means to them, participants will paint and create their own little house, which they can then distribute throughout the city.

“These houses will all come together and people will be invited to take them and distribute them randomly through the city wherever they like. They can appear anywhere – trams, cafes, the library.”

Other festival highlights will be the Sugar Mountain Festival, the Sour Times smart-phone adventure, the Human Chess Board, and the jaw-dropping 10,000 square foot Exxopolis installation.

For the full program and more information visit: www.summersaltfestival.com.au