Did you know that a ~FREE~ 12-day festival forms part of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games?
No? Well now you do. It’s called Festival 2018.
It’s free, free, free – did we mention it’s free? – Festival 2018 caters to absolutely everybody, including those of us who may be somewhat sportsball-challenged. That’s not to say that we’re not open to learning about all of the sports and checking out some of the $20 prelim rounds of our fave summer sesh activity Lawn Bowls or our childhood fave contest of will, Table Tennis.
We’re just saying that just that while we may roll into the lush Gold Coast for the Games themselves, we’re keen as heck to get amongst everything Festival 2018 has to offer. (And dw if you’re based in event cities Brissie, Cairns and Townsville: they’ve got brill fest offerings too).
There are actually too many rad events on for us to do the entire festival justice, but we’ve pulled out a few of our favourites that should hopefully have you on your marks, get set, go.
GIANT SING ALONG
It would be incorrect for me to say that everyone loves karaoke. Some of us don’t like to participate in the joy of joys which is belting out all the words to ‘Single Ladies‘ at the top of our lungs. But everybody likes to watch other people do karaoke, espesh if there’s bevs involved.
Head along to the field of tastefully Auto-Tuned microphones at Surfers Paradise Beach literally any day of GC2018 from 1pm and you could take part/be a voyeur at the Giant Sing Along. The public actually voted on the playlist so it is ripe with bona fide bangers, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ to ‘Shake It Off‘ to the entire country’s fave ‘Horses‘.
MUSEUM OF THE MOON
All GC2018-long, even if it’s an overcast day, you’ll be able to gaze up at the moon, thanks to UK artist Luke Jerram‘s Museum of the Moon installation. It’s a seven-metre-wide, floating moon sculpture set up in the Gold Coast’s Chinatown, emblazoned with to-scale NASA imagery: each centimetre of the sculpture equals 5 kilometres of the actual moon.
The sculpture is accompanied by a surround-sound composition by Dan Jones – who scored David Attenborough‘s The Life of Mammals and Louis Theroux‘s My Scientology Movie – featuring archive audio from the moon landings.
HOLOSCENES
This five-hour theatre piece runs on Surfers Paradise Esplanade throughout the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games – and it has shook me. For Holoscenes, by American Lars Jan, founder of Early Morning Opera, performers undertake everyday tasks like making a bed, reading a newspaper and getting dressed, inside a massive aquarium tank, as it fills with water. They spend 45 minutes in the tank each as it fills, adapting their movements to the push and flow of the water.
The work, which has shown in London, Abu Dhabi, and New York among others, explores our relationship to the rising tides, bringing to the forefront of our minds the global impact of climate change.
QUEENSLAND MUSIC STAGE
There’s too much on the Broady Queensland Music Stage bill we want to highlight – like upcoming and established Aussie acts of all genres coming outta QLD‘s eyeballs – so we’re gonna give you the full overview of what’s going down, and let you choose the evening tunes that best suit your vibe:
Amy Shark on April 4, Paces on April 5, Wilson Pickers on April 6, Busby Marou on April 7, Sahara Beck on April 8, Mau Power on April 9, Troy Cassar-Daley on April 10, Bobby Alu on April 11, The Jungle Giants on April 12, Bullhorn on April 13, Kate Miller-Heidke on April 14, and Dubmarine on April 15.
ONE MILLION STARS TO END VIOLENCE
This huge public-art installation of one million stars weaved by people across the world will take pride of place in Brissie’s King George Square from March 29 until the end of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, thanks to the help of the Museum of Brisbane.
The work, envisioned by artist Maryann Talia Pau, began way back in 2012, as Pau’s response to the rape and murder of a young woman in her southeast Queensland community. She wanted to inspire “light, hope, courage and solidarity” against violence, by inviting people across the globe to help her weave one million stars. And people did – from as far afield as Japan, Canada and Kenya. She reached her goal of a million handmade stars in August last year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjyDqztzaQ
And that’s just the tip. Grab a beer, catch some high stakes Badminton, then hang out for all the party vibes Festival 2018 has to offer, April 4 to 15 in venues around Queensland. Garn, score a Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games ticket HERE.
