Brunswick Music Festival
February 28 to March 28
Melbourne
Presented by Moreland City Council
Preview by Vannessa Hearman
MELBOURNE — The Brunswick Music Festival is on again. Opening on February 28, the festival provides a whole month of magnificent music, theatre and art exhibitions.
Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne, is distinguished by its high proportion of migrants, and the festival reflects this. "Songs from our People" will feature a kaleidoscope of music and songs from Greece, Italy, the Middle East, Russia, Turkey and Finland.
Klezmania, described as a group of Australian exponents of Yiddish klezmer music, will participate in a cabaret night at the East Brunswick Hotel, and Indian music and dance will feature on one night at the Brunswick Mechanics' Institute, one of the dozen venues for the festival.
There will also be English and Irish folk music, with Eric Bogle, Seamus Begley, Maria Forde and others.
The festival has distinguished itself for many years as a showcase for women, local and indigenous talent. This year will be no exception.
Judy Small and the Topp Twins from New Zealand, known for their strong feminist values, will perform, and Rita Mills (from Thursday Island's Mills Sisters) will team up with Tiddas' beautiful harmonies to lift the roof of the town hall. The Briscoe Sisters, three Aboriginal women from Queensland, will be performing at the festival for the first time.
"Images of a Larrakia Woman" will exhibit textiles and screen prints by indigenous woman June Mills, and "Brunswick Inspired" and "Women '99" will exhibit local artists' work.
As always, the festival will open with the Sydney Road street party, which attracted up to 40,000 people last year. There will be music and dance on six stages, and children will be entertained by street performers. Stalls from diverse community and progressive organisations will be there on the day too. Look out for the Green Left Weekly stall!
For tickets or information, ring the festival hotline (03) 9388 1460 or check out the site at <www.brunswickmusicfestival.com.au>. If you would like to help with the Green Left Weekly stall, phone (03) 9329 1277.