Alternative Festival of Arts

WITAR's Theatre Experimental (TX) project that has received a small grant from Leichhardt Council - started from performances of short local plays at the Festival in its "Club Hippi" venue in Glebe Town Hall. Unfortunately we as yet have no access to another Town Hall - after Sydney City Council let out the theatre space room we have been using as an office. The image we have here is to promote our Holmes Romance play in a yet to finalise access negotiation to a  Leichhardt Council venue. We hope to make a DVD of the last perfomance we did (plus an acted movie eventually).

The original name of the Festival is the "Alternative Festival of the Arts". In other words - we aren't limiting participating artforms to those that are "alternative", but rather we are trying to MOUNT a Festival that features the arts - that enhances rather than stifles them. For instance - we don't have an Art Galley event - but rather a CLUB HIPPI event in some historic old Town Hall, community centre venue. There we mix up presenting a short play - in a space where we also feature art-on-the-walls and on tables PLUS another space to show alternative and Festival event videos on the big screen (Underground Cinema).

The POETRY PICNIC event itself tries to avoid being like some kind of staid "poetry festival" by being outside and in a large garden style park. We even have a small "green room" ie a tent (mainly in case of rain because of our video equipment. We have tried to hold it every year since 1990 - and so far only rain has really made it difficult to run (though it was completely rained out last year). CLUB HIPPI short theatre productions are also video taped - and showed scenes from most of the productions at this Festival event (off a DVD we made) at the Club Hippi event last year. This year we are struggling to find a new venue for it after Sydney City Council leased out for an office, the "meeting room" space we have mounted most of the plays in (at Glebe Town Hall).

The founding event of the Alternative Arts Festival is the POETRY PICNIC - which found a home at Pioneer Park in Norton St, Leichhardt - when the local Council gave the organisers (UPE) some Seed Funding. The Poetry Party is an ongoing group that does other gigs (such as in cafes and at other community Festivals). We hope to put our a CD of us reading our poems and a CD Rom (and/or DVD) - when we have editing down a bit better.

POETS are urged to contact us through our email address: odd_job_centre@hotmail.com - leaving their contact details to get priority on reading at the POETRY PICNIC - which we video tape fior possible community TV broadcast (or at least for a DVD and screenings at the AAF Underground Cinema event. Our AAF Hotline number is also available - but with a spoken message facility. We acknowledge assistance from Leichhardt Council for venue assistance. They gave a seed Funding grant to help start the Festival 9 years ago.