The Dreaming Festival Series

September 23, 2010 in Rants & Raves, Series
Tags: Australia, comedy, culture, festival, film, forums, Indigenous Australians, music, Queensland, The Dreaming Festival, theatre, Woodford

Without a doubt we’re in some pretty heavy daze over the election outcome, having gone to the polls on August 21. So to break up the monotonous droning I thought something entirely different was in order. This intrepid traveller attended his first Dreaming Festival and kept a loose log of events of the long weekend.

As it turns out there was a lot material to write about so I’ve turned this post into a two-part series – The Dreaming Festival Series.

I hope you enjoy today’s look inside the Dreaming Festival 2010.

More details about the festival are provided at the end of this article.

Day One
Though the day was nice enough it turned into one of those days where not much went right. The moment we hopped into the taxi we discovered delays regardless of the route we took. Then there were more delays at the airport; fortunately the flight was running relatively on time.

At the Brisbane end we were quickly in the terminal. Getting to the car rental place was quick enough with a friendly driver who kept us entertained for the 10-minute drive.

Then it kind of went downhill a little. Taking nearly 4 hours to get to Woodford was quite a drag but what could we expect as it looked like half of Brisbane was heading north for the long weekend. Unfortunately our long drive meant we missed the opening ceremony.

As soon as camp was sorted out we ventured in to the grounds to join friends and family.

It was cold but we came prepared; and there were dozens of fire pits dotted around the grounds to keep everyone a little warmer. As we ventured in we saw a sea of people and performers enjoying the first night of festivities and the fire pits.

We ambled down the ‘road’, fumbling around with the venue map and program, looking out for friends and family.  It didn’t take long before we caught up with the first mob of people. More Melbourne people as it turned out.  Some more ambling, and a shout of ‘hey ova ere’, and we found  friends and family.

Keeping warm was no problem as we danced along to the music. We also worked out how to acquire beverages. There was a great band playing just metres away in a venue that I’d be found at a few times over the weekend – Blak Tracks. Playing as we arrived was The Medics and fortunately we caught King Kapisi.

It was a long day but sleep didn’t wash over until very late.  Sleeping proved to be more problematic than anticipated. The cold combined with uncomfortable cots equals very little sleep. But then what’s a good festival without ‘roughing’ it a little?

Day Two
The previous day‘s travel had well and truly caught up.  Despite the urge to sleep in, my schedule of event watching didn’t start till 10am, the tent was simply too hot and uncomfortable. But the day was beautiful with an expected top temperature of 22 degrees. Plus I was excited to be there and  looking forward to the day’s events.

So there was little point staying in bed and proceeded with the usual morning rituals.

Then it was off to search out coffee and sustenance as well as a few morning gaspers.

By this stage the others were already up and about; getting ready for performances or also too excited to stay in bed. On the way down to the grounds, it was great to be in sunshine and it was a fresh morning with a light breeze.

Lots of friendly people, exchanging greetings and commenting on the wonderful morning.

With a coffee and sweet organic chocolate donut in hand was the sugar and caffeine hit I needed.  The first thing to see of the day was Ilbijerri’s Black Sheep: Glorious Baastards – a comedy sketch show [more about the show].

Even though it was still relatively early for some there was already a healthy amount of people walking about and enjoying the morning.

After a few more gaspers, I find my way over to Blak Dramatics, another place I’d find myself frequenting often over the weekend, for Glorious Baastards.  Opposite was Govinda’s Indian vegetarian restaurant serving a delicious feast at a modest price. I was a happy repeat customer.

I lined up early enough to ensure a good spot from which to enjoy the show. I’ve seen it many times already but still laugh out loud. (I enjoy the show as much as I enjoy the different audience responses).  I couldn’t hang around long as the next gig was soon starting and I didn’t want to miss out.

Walking quickly I made it over to Dancestry for some very sweet Native Canadian dancing and story telling.  It was great to watch how they told a particular favourite story – the Trickster.  They also amazed and stunned the crowd with their grass dancers and, my personal favourite, the hoop dance.  The hoop dance is spectacular to see and illustrates significant mastery of movement with hoops, while continuing to dance.

Alas I couldn’t stay for the entire line up for the day; there was another must see event to get to.

I arrived at Nomads Palace for one of the few forums that I attended.  It was only a quick stop off but was an interesting discussion about the presenters different generations.  Unfortunately I had to leave half way through to get back to Blak Dramatics for Bindjareb Pinjarra.

Truly amazing and incredible, educational and emotion are words that come to my mind when I think of the performance I saw of Bindjareb Pinjarra.  And it’s a show that tells the story of the massacre at Pinjarra in Western Australia with excellent overlays of contemporary Australia. The cast were authentic, genuine and well rounded working great with each other. The backdrop for the show, displayed for the show’s entirety, was stunning and responded so well to subtle (and not so subtle) changes in lighting to help with the mood.

After wiping some tears and sharing a few words with those around me that shared in the experience, I sought out more coffee and some lunch.  Both were quickly sourced and heartily consumed.

Next up was ‘The Adventures of Constantina Bush and the Bushettes’. An excellent drag show with lots of well known songs, raunchy dancing and a few yarns in between.  Although, as I was to find out the next day, given the time slot it was toned down since there were families in the audience. But without knowing that, it was still an entertaining show. I decided to see it the next day at it’s later time slot.

Between grabbing something to eat, talking with people and wandering around the grounds, it was time to get over to see Magpie Blues at Blak Dramatics. It was a the story of a life told through different songs with big numbers, well known classics and some original pieces.  It was really cold inside the huge marquee (you could see the performers breath hang in the air), and affecting Ursula Yovich as she caught a spot of the ‘coughs’. But as they say the show goes on and they played with passion and delivered a great show.

It had been a big day but a rest was needed.

After a few yarns at the camp I headed over with a small group to the last gig for the evening – Kutcha’s show at the Dingo Shed. It was sublime, beautiful, moving and heartfelt.  There was barely a dry-eye in the house after his astounding story, told through music and spoken word, was finished.

Kutcha’s show then led to a very late night guitar-sing-a-long-by-the-fire. The fire was kept alive by the scavenging efforts of those surrounding it for warmth.  Fortunately the songs were ones everyone knew and could sing-a-long with, helping to keep us warm.

It was quite early in the morning when the fire and the music died dispersing the remaining people.

It was cold. Very cold.

Catch Part Two tomorrow!

The Dreaming Festival
The Dreaming Festival, held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, is an Australian and international First Nations festival. It includes theatre, dance, music, forums, workshops, and arts and crafts. There’s thousands of people, lots of different foods to eat and lots of different things to see and do. It’s held at the Woodford Folk Festival grounds (south-east Queensland).

There are a range of ways you can live the Dreaming Festival experience that suit nearly all budgets

Check it out and book your ticket for next year’s festival.

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