Yarra council is hosting a GLBTIQ Youth Forum for local service providers, community agencies and schools at Richmond Town Hall this Friday. The event starts at 9.30 and run through to the late afternoon. The free one-day forum will bring together over 100 professionals from local services providers, community agencies and schools who work with children, young people and their families across the GLBTIQ community. There will be workshops and talks from key experts and providers in relation to topics from a range of support modules and youth-led projects. A panel of eight GLBTIQ young people discussing issues and challenges, with a facilitated Q&A session will conclude the forum. The day will be rounded out with a panel of eight GLBTIQ young people discussing issues and challenges and of course a Q&A session.
Starting this Sunday is Multicultural Arts Victoria’s 12th year of Emerge Festival. This year’s festival offers up a collection of new experiences inspired by the streets of Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy. The Reading Room at the Fitzroy Town Hall will be the Emerge Festival’s very own hub, with activities featuring Arabic, Vietnamese, Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung language classes; a Refugee Week performance by Melbourne Playback Theatre and the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria; Yarra Settlement Forum and Yarra City Council Q&A event, a Comedy night AND Saba’s Health Foods will be run daily, including the likes of Teff grain bakery products, tea and Ethiopian coffee. This awesome festival will be running through until Saturday the 20th and all activities are completely free! For all program, tickets and further information visit Multicultural Arts Victoria.
Running over both Saturday and Sunday will be the Williamstown Literary Festival of 2015. It’s at the Williamstown Town Hall in you guessed it, Williamstown and tickets are varied but with a maximum cost looking at only 25 bucks. Event-goers will have the opportunity to participate in panel discussions, in-depth interviews, talks from multiple authors and creative workshops with a range of festival guests over the weekend. This year's theme is "Swimming in Words" and organisers are presenting a packed programme of more than 70 authors and 50 events covering poetry, politics, crime, wartime memoirs, family life and comedy. There’ll also be loads of local talent involved too with well-known lecturers and academics from Victoria University, poets, panellists, storytellers and children's book authors. You can view the full listing of events www.willylitfest.org.au.
Tonight is the opening night of Hello Play, an exhibition of new works created by graphic artist Spenceroni. Celebrating all things play, it is an invitation for adults to put aside being serious for a moment and reconnect with their sense of curiosity and adventure. From paintings, patterns, and prints, to sculptures and more, Hello Play is experimental, colourful, and a little bit whimsical, but most of all fun and great for kids too. The night kicks off at the No Vacancy Gallery in the city but the free exhibition will be open to the public from the 9th of June until the 21st so make sure you check it out www.Helloplay.cool has all the information.
This year The Letter String Quartet is offering Yarra City Arts readers free tickets to the first in a series of concerts at The Oratory, Abbotsford Convent. The Letter String Quartet is Steph O’Hara & Lizzie Welsh on violin, Biddy Connor on the viola and Zoe Barry playing cello. Part 1 is called Oculus Sonic and even though it isn’t until Sunday 28 June, the night which features the likes of Marita Dyson from The Orbweavers with lyrics inspired by the history of the Abbotsford Convent from poet Maria Zajkowski, this is a quick heads up to let you know you can try score some free tickets to this amazing show! Visit www.yarracityarts.com.au/events and search The Letter String Quartet!
By Alana Mazurke
