The inaugural Queensland Fringe Festival has wrapped up after a 1,472km journey through regional Queensland, attracting more than 4,350 people to its two-day finale at The Empire in Toowoomba.
Presented in partnership with The Empire by the team behind Wynnum Fringe, Queensland Fringe launched in Charleville on 1 August, travelling through Augathella and Roma before arriving in Toowoomba for its finale on 6 – 7 August.
The festival was built around a simple proposition: regional Queensland audiences should have access to ambitious, creative and world-class cultural experiences at their doorstep. Rather than asking audiences to travel to Brisbane, Queensland Fringe took the entertainment to them, while encouraging visitors to travel through regional Queensland, stay overnight, dine locally and explore the communities along the way.
Festival Founder and Artistic Director Tom Oliver said the inaugural event demonstrated the appetite for major cultural experiences outside the capital. “The response to Queensland Fringe from the Toowoomba arts community, the business community and the audience was incredible and inspiring,” said Mr Oliver.
“Each night was a full house and the artists that live here are world class. Queensland Fringe is about creating a festival where you can jump in the car, travel through Queensland, stay overnight, discover a new town, eat at a local restaurant, meet local artists and then see an internationally recognised performer on a regional stage. That is a really powerful tourism proposition for Queensland.”
Queensland Fringe’s inaugural route, The Wild West, connected four distinctly different destinations. In Charleville, the festival launched with daytime access to the Charleville Horse and Motorcycle Gymkhana before an evening Fringe experience at the Cattle Camp Hotel featuring Festival Ambassador Wes Carr, local bush poets and musicians.
On 2 August, Augathella hosted a community celebration at the Augathella Bowls Club featuring Wes Carr, with bar proceeds supporting the local community. The festival continued to Roma on 4 August, with an intimate live music and tasting experience at Western Queensland Spirits featuring Wes Carr, local performers and whisky and gin tastings.
The journey culminated in Toowoomba on 6 – 7 August, with The Empire precinct and Walton Stores transformed into a two-day cultural hub, welcoming more than 4,350 attendees, bringing together 55 artists and 63 arts workers across a vibrant program of 13 stage performances. With four performance spaces operating simultaneously, the hub offered audiences an expansive celebration of arts and culture, showcasing a diverse range of talent and creative activity.
The program featured Jim Jefferies, Vanessa Amorosi, Dami Im and Wes Carr, alongside MOCKINGBIRD starring Mark Sholtez and Luke Kennedy, Songs My Aunties Taught Me, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing), Behind Don’t Tell, From Page to Stage, Twelve Days of Stillness, An Oak Tree, The Shine Shootout film screening and Q&A, Sue Ray’s single launch and emerging Queensland talent including The Fern Sisters.
Queensland Fringe Artist in Residence Phoebe Paradise created Where the Wildflowers Are, projected onto The Empire’s façade throughout the week. Acclaimed chef Anthony Healy, Queensland Fringe’s inaugural Rogue in Residence, added a culinary dimension, creating limited-edition dishes and immersive dining experiences that blurred the line between food, art and performance.
The Empire CEO, Giuliana Bonel said the precinct came alive for the two-day finale of Queensland Fringe, with music, film, comedy, theatre and live entertainment filling every venue and the spaces in between.
“Queensland Fringe gave us an opportunity to use The Empire in a completely different way, with audiences moving throughout the precinct, discovering something unexpected and experiencing an extraordinary mix of artists and performances,” said Ms Bonel.
“Throughout the festival, internationally recognised acts shared our stages with local performers, established artists returned home to share their work, and audiences discovered new talent along the way. That’s exactly what Fringe is all about,” she said.
“The response to the inaugural festival has demonstrated the appetite for ambitious arts experiences in regional Queensland. We were thrilled to partner with Queensland Fringe for their inaugural year and look forward to supporting this unmissable event in our region’s cultural calendar for many years to come.”
With its inaugural festival now complete, Queensland Fringe is looking to build on the model, creating more opportunities for regional audiences, artists and businesses while positioning Queensland as a destination where exceptional cultural experiences can happen anywhere. Queensland Fringe is looking to the road ahead.
For more information about the Queensland Fringe Festival, visit: www.qldfringe.com for details.
Images: MOCKINGBIRD – photo by MRP Images | Wes Carr – photo by MRP Images | Where the Wildflowers Are by Phoebe Paradise – photo by MRP Images