Saturday 27 August to Saturday 10 September 2005

Planning for this year’s Southside Festival is underway, and is looking bigger & better than ever.

It will run across three weekends, in three different locations (Cringila, Berkeley & Port Kembla), with unique events and performances designed for each venue.
Regular features will run again, including:

o Cultural performances, eg, music & dance
o National food, eg, bread making with different cultural recipes (a wood fired bread oven was built in Cringila Community Park as part of last year’s festival)
o Story telling
o Children’s rides and activities
o Local services information expo
o Crafts
o Circus skills workshops
o Roaming musicians & circus performers
o Lantern parade
o Children’s adventure course & outdoor activities
o Fire Event Spectacular

This year we are introducing a Fire Event Spectacular, as a central focus to unite the three festival locations. The fire event also provides an opportunity for broad community participation, helping unite the various cultures through a symbolic performance.

Workshops
Workshops for the Fire Event will be held in each of the festival suburbs and participants will:

o Identify main themes and historical and/or cultural symbols reflecting life in the southern suburbs of Wollongong
o Design & build props for the fire event and shadow puppet theatre performance
o Train in staging and performance skills
o Rehearse performances

The festival and You
The festival organising committee is drawn from local community development workers, volunteers and the festival coordinator.
An opportunity exists for local people to be involved and to learn new skills in festival organisation. We are calling on local people to tell us what they would like to see in this year’s festival. The greater the involvement by local people, the better the festival.
If you would like to be involved or want to suggest an activity or anything, please call either Nick or Jenny on 42 76 3433.

History
The festival grew from a process of community renewal, lead by local community development workers, Wollongong City Council, local non-government organisations and services, and volunteer community members.
It is held to celebrate and highlight the assets and benefits of living in the southern suburbs of Wollongong and is part of the community’s ongoing effort to address local concerns around crime and safety.

A Southern Suburbs Community Development Partnership Project
PO Box 9,
Port Kembla 2505
Ph: Nick or Jenny on 02 42 76 3433

For a full rundown of the activities and entertainment - pick up your free programme from one of our Southside Festival crew on the day!