The 2024 Winter Blooming Festival at NERAM will be jam-packed with fabulous workshops, fascinating guest speakers and of course the super fashionable Winter Blooming Ball.
The festival – that celebrates First Nations, multicultural, LGBTQA+ arts, culture, communities and allies – is an inclusive event that supports diversity and all festival events in 2024 will be held over the weekend of August 16 to August 18.
Highlights of this year’s festival include:
- Opening Night and Festival Launch that will feature three new exhibitions opening Rainbow: Alun Rhys Jones, Neerja Peters: Ley Lines & Fantastical Scenes: Queer Visions and the Collection and the official launch of the 2024 Winter Blooming Festival. This event will include the Launch of the University of New England Allyship report: Being Myself at UNE: A report of the UNE Allyship steering committee.
- In Conversation: With Omar Sakr and Rob Waters – talking about art as resistance and how people use poetry and storytelling in oppressive circumstances.
- A panel discussion – re-remembering queer histories through objects, archives and stories with speakers: Marina Jansen, Dr Ariella van Luyn and Jody Ekert.
- Still Life Drawing with Alun Rhys Jones – this workshop will focus on still life drawing. Participants will be encouraged to experiment with different drawing techniques and styles throughout the three-hour session.
- Winter Blooming Ball – get fabulous at the 2024 Winter Blooming Ball! It’s the prom you always dreamed of, the event of the season, a night to remember. DJ betty bilby is back in charge of the music and there will be drag and performances throughout the night.
- Queer Brunch – Social meet up for the LGBTAQ+ community at the Six Counties at NERAM.
The concept for The Winter Blooming Festival was conceived in 2019 by co-producers, University of New England sociologist Christina Kenny and NERAM director Rachael Parsons and aimed to address the then total lack of visibility, events, spaces and services for the New England Region’s LGBTIQA+ community.
Since then, the festival has well and truly bloomed and is now a standout event on the New England’s events calendar.
“Winter Blooming was the only major local intersectional event that provided a platform to LGBTIQ+, First Nations and multicultural people and communities to come together and share their lived experiences, work, creativity and culture.” said Ms Parsons.
“The festival creates a unique and safe space that supports and celebrates diversity, social connection and cultural exchange,”
“It includes important, challenging, and enlightening discussions that share a diverse range of lived experiences and knowledge from migrant diaspora, Indigenous, queer, and gender-diverse people, creative workshops, and opportunities for people to come together, socialise and find community. It’s also fun!”
“This year we have a super line up of speakers discussing some weighty topics, including an in conversation between award winning poets Omar Sakr and Rob waters who will be discussing art as resistance, how we use poetry and storytelling in oppressive circumstances. We have some fabulous artists doing workshops and have combined last year’s highly Queer Prom and Winter Blooming After Dark events into the Winter Blooming Ball.”
“We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back to this fantastic weekend of events that help address the need for more visibility of LGBTIQA+, multicultural, and Aboriginal voices in our region.”
Tickets are now on sale for all Winter Blooming events. Visit www.neram.com.au/event/winter-blooming-festival-24/
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