Five Weird And Wonderful Acts You Need To See At The Fremantle International Street Art Festival
The colder months are fast approaching, and it won’t be long before weekends comprise of little more than blankets and Ubereats. For the next few weeks, we’re taking you around the country, with a look at some of the most interesting events taking place in each city.
Today, we’re starting over in WA with the Fremantle International Street Art Festival. Since 1999, the annual festival has transformed the city into a dizzying, colourful carnival of sound, movement and art each Easter long weekend. With everything from buskers and cabaret to comedy and dance, it’s an incredible gathering of street performers from Australia and across the globe.
Weird, wonderful, enchanting and unexpected – this is a vibrant cultural event quite unlike anything else. The best part? It’s completely free, although the festival does encourage you to drop a coin or two into the hats of your favourite buskers. Here are our top picks for this weekend’s festival.
The Sound Of Sewing
Though environmentally friendly, upcycling doesn’t seem like a particularly thrilling activity. But one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and some cherish the art of turning something old into something new. Helmed by two women who’ll be visiting Fremantle from their native Netherlands, The Sound of Sewing is a creative project that sees the two women using antique sewing machines and Dutch pushbikes to transform old, unwanted clothing into one-of-a-kind art.
Mafia Wedding
Thanks to The Godfather, mafia weddings are forever immortalised in popular culture. It’s the day Sicilians cannot refuse requests, it’s the inspiration for a thousand themed parties, and it’s also the premise UK-based street performance Mafia Wedding. The story follows the story of Maria, the heavily pregnant, unmarried Don’s daughter. She’s unmarried – and that’s a big problem. She needs “a husband, a bridesmaid, a priest, a congregation, perhaps even a surgeon, if the baby arrives”. If the show is as gripping as the premise, you’re in for a treat.
Soukouss Internationale
And now for something a little different – live Congolese music and dance from an eclectic seven-piece band out of Perth. Soukouss is a remarkably multicultural style of music – stemming from the Congo Basin, it blends Congolese folk with Latin and Caribbean beats and melodies. Think bright, rumba-inspired rhythms, colourful African melodies, and all the booty-shaking you could ever want, in what will apparently be a “sexy dance show”. In a nutshell, it’s a party in a band.
The Music Mill
The Music Mill has to be seen to be believed. This massive solar-powered “sound sculpture” combines a myriad percussion instruments, including a marimba, glockenspiel, snare drum, bass drum and, yes, a cowbell. Every instrument has been programmed manually and creates enchanting music through a series of pins and gears that can be seen in action. Live musicians will be accompanying the Mill, which goes off on its own musical journey once set in motion.
Cirquepop
There’s something magical about circus performers. There’s an unreal quality to the way they move and watching them up close and personal comes with a special sense of wonderment. Part of CircusWA, Cirquepop is an acrobatic spectacular with a modern twist. Performed by local Fremantle talent The Sliders, this is an awe-inspiring display of acrobatics, trapeze, comedy, music, dance and more, all the while incorporating pop culture and glamour into the “explosive muscular manipulations”.
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The Fremantle International Street Arts Festival runs from April 13-17. Check out all details and the full program here.