The Village Festival Celebrates 15 Years at Melbourne's Edinburgh Gardens

Since its inception in 2005, travelling community arts festival The Village Festival has delighted 55 communities across Australia, programming over 5000 artists and acts, and involving over 150 community groups.

More than 450,000 people across Australia have experienced the unique, welcoming, community space that The Village Festival provides, where creativity rules and vibrant colour, wonder and up-close-and-personal encounters flourish.

With a diverse music line up featuring everything from stomping world music to rock, soaring jazz and surreal electronica, queer delights, the ever popular World Kitchen, theatre and installation art, explorations in alternate reality, a dedicated children's program, Circus Oz Fanatics, and a new Sunset Ritual featuring Melbourne's best acrobats and flow artists, this year's festival is not to be missed. Tickets are available via thevillagefestival.com.au/tickets/

The festival is inviting Melburnians to dive into their own creativity as they experience The Village in all its glory for one last time in Edinburgh Gardens.

"This year is bittersweet. It's cause for great celebration as we commemorate our 15th year Australia wide, while it's also the last year The Village Festival will be held at Edinburgh Gardens - where we have made so many treasured memories! This last weekend in October has become a calendar favourite for Northsiders and Melburnians alike. We can't wait to gather everyone for one last hurrah at Edinburgh Gardens, and you can bet we are pulling out all the stops for a truly spectacular line up of inclusive, awe-inspiring acts!" says Suzanne Kalk, Village Founder and Artistic Director.

After a one year hiatus in 2018, The Village Festival at Edinburgh Gardens is back with a fresh programming team of exciting new visionaries in Australia's arts industry.

Programmers Tim Ryan, Tim Sneddon, Creatrix Tiara and Cat Scobie honour the community inclusivity that The Village is famous for, while representing a new generation of creative and curious souls.

There are 140 different program elements that cover theatre, visual art, music, interactive arts, food, ritual, secrets and everything in between. The Village guarantees to surprise and delight, inviting festival-goers to become active participants in their alternative utopian playground.

Crowd favourite The World Kitchen is a food performance venue that hosts food demonstrations from the serious to the spurious, with a focus on Melbourne's varying cultural traditions who will be sharing their culture through food. Sample Tibetan momo dumplings, Colombian treats with Mama Verana and learn the secrets of Somali cooking with Luul and Marian. Audiences can also make their own apron with Jahluvi from Social Studio at the Instant Apron Station, partake in the fun of political figure Scones Morrison and join the Burnt Sausages cult.

The No Borders Music Project is a new venture from Elijah Gentle, who has worked with asylum seekers from around the world, and local Melbourne musicians to create a platform for stories of exile to be heard. For the full program and other details visit thevillagefestival.com.au/

Don't miss your chance to experience this beguiling, beautiful event and have one final spring dance in the gardens with the villagers.

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