After a COVID hiatus, the Artwalk festival will be back in 2022, kicking off with the magical main event on Friday 10 June 2022 from 5pm. No tickets are required, you can just turn up.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council have produced an exciting new digital projection called ‘Connecting the Dots,’ to be illuminated on the CBD’s Historic Courthouse, which centres on the theme of ArtWalk, being the Gathang language interpretation for ‘Come with us on Country to See Story’ Mara Nyirun.gay Barrayga Nyaagi Djuyal. This production screens hourly from 5pm and showcases performances by Gordon Gamsby, Artist Lucy Gamsby-Frost (husband and wife), Artist Mel Streater, Poet Josh Moses, and Musician James Bennett.
This new enthralling, bespoke sound and light installation is an extension of the successful Wakulda installation, that was developed as part of the Bicentenary Event Program in April 2020. Wakulda is an ongoing immersive, nightly, 10-minute production that denotes the critical heritage and culture stories from both an Aboriginal and European perspective. Wakulda will also be projected every hour on the evening, alternating with the Connecting the Dots projection.
The evening will also feature a jam-packed schedule of musicians, dancers, performers, artists, and writers lighting up the Historic Courthouse in Port Macquarie’s CBD. Local artists and creatives will bring shop fronts and footpaths alive with 15 live sites and create surprising pockets of unexpected delight across the CBD.
There will be artisan markets and business shop fronts will transform into mini galleries. For children, attractions include a silent disco, and a Kaleidoscope workshop where children can make a super cool glowing Kaleidoscope they can use the rest of the night.
Notable performances from Gordon Gamsby, Artist Lucy Gamsby-Frost (husband and wife), Artist Mel Streater, Poet Josh Moses, and Musician James Bennett will tell the important stories of Port Macquarie-Hastings and entertain visitors from all walks of life.
Following this main event on the Friday eve of the long weekend, creative satellite events will be held throughout the weekend. Below are just some of these so you can explore your creative side:
Art and food
Baba Lila Chocolate Painting Workshops, located at Bago Maze & Winery: Using coloured melted chocolate, paint your own edible artwork – the most fun you’ll ever have with chocolate and oh-so-delicious!
Arthouse Industries, Resin Workshops: Whether you want to create a funky new cheese board or some colourful earrings, resin workshops are a fun, fast and affordable way to explore your creativity and make something special to take home. Arthouse offers several year-round resin workshops facilitated by local artists.
Drawn to Art, Art Therapy Classes: Drawn to Art offer individual art classes for all abilities catering to special needs clients, including children.
Seed Creative Workshops, Paint n Sip Parties: If you love wine as much as you love art, a Paint n Sip Party might be just the ticket. Create a masterpiece with acrylic on canvas and the teacher will walk you through the process. Seed Creative are also running a Women’s Art Retreat over this weekend.
Tortuga Festival Husband and wife team Gordon Gamsby and artist Lucy Gamsby-Frost have performed and collaborated with some of the world’s largest arts events such as Burning Man. They will deliver this daring new 10-day festival which includes a kids bubble show, roving performers and outdoor fire performances. Ticketed events include the Opening Gala acrobatic cabaret show that will take place in the Aurora Spiegeltent, a beautiful, authentic art-deco 100 year old venue from the Netherlands.
Come along to enjoy and immerse yourself in and support Port Macquarie’s arts and culture scene.
Kid friendly activities in Port Macquarie
If you are visiting with children, the destination is also home to a diverse variety of attractions the kids will love so that you can wrap all this up into a fun filled weekend trip together. Below are examples of the activities that are sure to wow and entertain the kids on an educational and active adventure in the region’s gorgeous coastal and nature surroundings:
Bago Maze & Winery – the adults can enjoy a wine and cheeseboard as they watch over their kids getting lost in the maze. A stunning architecturally designed native Lilly Pilly hedge maze. It’s one of the world’s largest hedge mazes with over 2000m of pathways, bridges and hedges, making it the perfect place for the family to explore
– Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail – this is super cute for kids! A multi-award winning art project, consisting of 83 individually-painted koalas across the Port Macquarie-Hastings region
– The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital – it offers a free tour daily at 3pm, where kids can learn about the koalas being looked after by volunteers there. There is also the world’s first koala breeding precinct launching in Cowarra State Forrest towards the end of this year. This was brought forward ten years ahead of schedule due to all of the amazing donations worldwide during the bush fires
– Billabong Zoo Koala & Wildlife Park
– Camel riding -Kids can go on a camel safari on the beautiful Lighthouse Beach. They could even catch the sight of dolphins and whales while riding
– Port Macquarie Coastal Walk – A walk that you can break up into shorter sections for walking with the kids
– Pony rides for the kids while adults can enjoy cheese platters and wine at the nearby Cassegrain Winery
– The largest Red Bloodwood tree in the Southern Hemisphere, the Old Bottlebut , uniquely shaped with a large flared “butt.”
– Indulge in ice-cream and feed the fish at Dunbogan Boatshed and Marina and even possibly catch sight of dolphins.
When: Artwalk runs over the Queens Birthday long weekend from June 10-13th
Where: Port Macquarie CBD
Info: For more information and details, please visit: https://portmacquarieinfo.com.au/artwalk/home
For details about Port Macquarie as a destination, including how to get there and accommodation: http://www.portmacquarieinfo.com.au
By Tracey Cheung
