Spectrum Now Festival 2016

By Ben Stephens.

Our good friends at the Sydney Morning Herald have just dropped their programme for the second Spectrum Now Festival. Spectrum Now 2016 will be hosting art, music, stage performances and the all important talks, that set the festival apart. The festival base will open on March 1 in the Domain, this hub of activity will host a circus feel with fire breathers, mouth watering feasts and free gigs from some rad bands.

Art

Spectrum Now will be exhibiting a wealth of artists from across Australia with a sprinkle of international works. Matt Dampney, an emerging pop artist from Tamworth, will be taking over the Frances Keevil Gallery to complete an enormous mural for the festival that will be auctioned off for charity. Along side the murals and workshops, the well loved Sydney based artist Mr Ken Done will be hosting a night at his gallery. This will offer an insight into what he has been working on recently ahead of his memoir exhibition. Tickets will sell out, so move fast.

Music

The curated music selection comes from the producers behind Splendour in the Grass and it is easy to see. Missy Higgins, Birds of Tokyo and Hot Dub Time Machine alongside 25+ other artists will take to The Domain in a bunch of free and ticketed shows. Julia Zermiro will be hosting RocWiz Live at the festival hub, while Marie’s Crisis will be bringing their Broadway voices to belt out a number of tunes with audience participation being key to this event.

Stage

Some fantastic shows will be gracing stages around Sydney during the festival, with the likes of Bell Shakespeare and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra coproducing Romeo and Juliet. Dead Men Talking will take you on a hilarious journey with Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. If you are after a deep laugh, Comedy Central are exclusively bringing the stars of their hit show Workaholics to The Domain for two nights of brilliant stand up.

Talks

This is where Spectrum Now really comes into it own. With talks such as Confessions from a Teenage Diary featuring Todd McKenny, Georgie Parker and Emma Palmer, where tales from younger years will be broken down to reveal some hilarious yarns. Over at The Domain, Culture Crush will see Fairfax journalist, Benjamin Law interviewing Leigh Sales while Kate McClymont will be talking with Bruce Beresford. Some say this will be the highlight of the entire festival and we somewhat agree with that. Sydney based barrister, Charles Waterstreet, will be hosting a one night only discussion at the Tattersalls Club. Expect entertaining stories while exploring some of Sydney’s social myths.

Spectrum Now Festival runs from March 1 – 16