Two years of planning comes to spectacular fruition this week with the arrival of the Big West Festival.
More than 65 events will unfold over 10 days of celebrating what makes Melbourne’s multicultural inner-west a unique place to live, work and play.
The opening night celebration begins with a parade, music and interactive art events at the Footscray Community Arts Centre from 6-10pm this Friday.
The night features music from Diafrix, student performances, a giant light-mobile created by ArtLife and a crane operated at the command of children.
Mobile Radio will also hit the airwaves for the first time. The portable radio station will be webcasting, podcasting and transmitting via 99.9FM from different locations in the west each day of the festival.
Many of the festival’s key events are free and family-friendly, including Braybrook’s Big Day Out on Sunday and the People’s Day street party in Footscray’s Little Saigon markets on December 1. From 10am to 1pm this Saturday, Big Westona takes over Harrington Square, opposite Westona train station in Altona.
Big Westona will host robot soccer, and a state-of-the-art 3D printer will be in action. There’ll be a local neighbourhood radio broadcast from Mobile Radio covering indigenous culture, Altona’s future, local history and musical performances, featuring local community groups and students from the local schools.
From 1-8pm on November 21 and 23-25 at the Performance Space, Footscray Community Arts Centre, artist Chi Vu presents Banh Chung, a meditation on impermanence and transition caused by war, migration and peace.
As for entertainment of yesteryear, The Dream Home Drive In projection program by Frank Veldze will screen short films from 9-9.30pm, November 26-28, opposite the Cotton Mills in Footscray.
