Ballarat Cabaret Festival back in the spotlight this October

Ballarat Cabaret Festival Debra ByrneFor the sixth year in a row, the Ballarat Cabaret Festival will be back in the spotlight this October taking centre stage with shows at the Ballarat Mining Exchange, the Mechanics Institute and the Lost Ones Basement Bar.

This unique regional festival brings the best of cabaret entertainment into the heart of Ballarat with acts handpicked by the 2017 Artistic Director Fiona Scott Norman, featuring artists at the top of their game – offering quality, creativity, originality and fun – ensuring a festival packed with great cabaret entertainment.

“2017 is my first year as Artistic Director, and I hope you enjoy what we’re up to,” says Fiona Scott Norman. “The bedrock is excellence – every artist here is at the top of their particular game – but besides quality, creativity, originality and fun, I’ve programmed to interrogate the boundaries of what makes great cabaret.”

This year’s festival honours our artistic elders with performances from icon Debra Byrne (8 October) performing the songs she treasured as a young girl, and opening the festival – Melbourne’s pinnacle of cool, The Bachelors From Prague (5 October). Don’t miss the sounds of Jude Perl (7 October) and Gillian Cosgriff (6 October) – original singer-songwriters at the peak of their craft.

The festival also includes new work from old hands, with Paul McDermott of The Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS) and Steven Gates of Tripod, collaborating for the first time in Go Solo (6 October). New duo, new energy, new banter, new songs – this performance will be pure dynamite!

Provocative, spontaneous and irreverent, Dolly Diamond returns to Ballarat with a fresh take on a TV classic – Dolly Diamond’s Bl*nky Bl*nks (7 and 8 October). Expect sharp wit, local identities, celebs, and the promise of a great night out.

The Ballarat Cabaret Festival is proud to showcase the next generation of Australian Cabaret talent. Cabaret Neu (8 October) features six superb acts from Federation University Arts Academy graduating class, while this year’s festival also features The Aspie Hour – a collaboration between two emerging cabaret stars, Sophie Smyth and Ryan Smedley.

And if that wasn’t enough, Charlie D. Barkle and Oliver Clark battle it out to discover who the is the best James Bond in Shaken (7 October), and you can become your own Cabaret star as Trevor Jones returns with the Key Party Piano Bar (6 and 7 October).

The 2017 Ballarat Cabaret Festival runs 5 – 8 October. Tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit: www.ballaratcabaret.com for details.

Image: Debra Byrne (supplied)