THE Wallangra Festival kicks off on Friday, with innovative ideas, visions for the future, balms for the ears, eyes and soul and an empathetic environment. It is an event tailored to promote sustainable concepts to promote strong communities.
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The first public events begin at 2pm with the Not Quite TED Talks at the Graman Hall. Saturday’s main event is the Not Quite Baroque concert at 6.30pm Saturday night at the Wallangra Hall.
All events are free and everybody is welcome.
In between times, students from small schools across the district will be busy with a series of ongoing art workshops and music rehearsals to wow the audience on Saturday night where they will share the stage with some very established regional and national talent.
The Not Quite TED Talks line-up of speakers feature leading voices from farming, the arts, sustainable land management, building rural leaders, mental health, and building resilient youth, among others.
Each speaker has a 20 minute presentation, offering the audience a chance to absorb rich, bite-sized bits of information.
Breaks and question panels are scheduled to encourage discussion and a chance to digest the day.
One of the festival organisers and speakers, Mike McCosker said many people can find themselves operating in a vacuum, and often feel they are the only ones with their shoulder to the wheel.
“There’s a lot of strain and it just builds up and builds up and there’s no outlet anywhere,” he said.
“And what community does, even if it doesn’t solve the problem, it just allows you to talk about it, and that becomes an outlet, and that outlet is so important.”
He said the fundamental aim of the Not Quite TED Talks was to introduce fresh perspectives and ideas that could offer solutions and a forum to share.
Mike felt the variety of speakers reflected the resilience of nature.
“They say from a natural perspective, nature’s strength is in its diversity, and I think the same thing applies to community,” Mike said.
“A community’s’ strength is in its diversity; because everyone looks at things slightly differently. And that’s why one of the reasons the program’s so diverse; because there are a lot of ways to look at the same issues.”
Speakers on Friday include Mike McCosker, Alex Dudley, Bernie Shakeshaft, Kelly Jones, Phoebe Maroulis, Tony Lovell, Dr Anna Carr, Meg Percival and Robyn Moore.
Musicians for the concert include the Not Quite Baroque student singers, Megan Longhurst, the Mae Trio, Billy Pitt, Ephen Stephen and WirryCow.
There are seats still available for the talks and the outdoors at the concert. To learn more about the Wallangra Festival or to book a free seat, find it on their web site: wallangransw.com/wallangra-festival.