Announcing CoastFest 2005
A Celebration of Music, Art & Culture

CoastFest is a new annual 3 day Multicultural, Multi-Arts Festival that will take place on the Central Coast NSW, just 1 hr north of Sydney at the Gosford Showground, 21st-23rd October 2005.

Although the emphasis of the festival is Music, there will also be:
• Dance Workshops and Performance
• Poetry and Story–telling
• Art Space and Craft Workshops, featuring the work of local artists
• Tipi Talking Space and Healing Village
• Chai Tent and Accoustic Jam Space
• Drama, Theatre and Circus
• Kids Festival and Activities
• Film & Multimedia
• Drum Circle and stomping ground for dance and fire-twirling
• World food stalls and market place
• Lantern parade and Festival finale.

Music
Artists will range from contemporary & alternative to world & blues, and from traditional & folk to roots & medieval with a smattering of in-between genres thrown in. There will be a concert stage plus a Brackets & Jam stage running simultaneously, and featuring specially selected musicians from many parts of Australia, as well as local musicians. There will also be music workshops taking place throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Additionally, there will be separate blackboard concerts where anyone can perform. In the evenings, there’ll be sessions in a session bar and at other places around the site, where performers and festival goers will be able to share their music. Make sure you bring your instruments and drums to take part in workshops, sessions or inpromtu jams.

If singing is your thing, not only will there be several workshops specifically related to singing, there will also be a CoastFest choir. Everyone is welcome to join the choir, participate in practice sessions and then perform their newly learned material on one of the main stages under the baton of one of Australia’s best contemporary choir leaders.

Dance
A variety of dance styles will be represented at the festival, and will include Celtic, Middle Eastern, Afro Jazz, Native American, Maori, as well as Indigenous Australian.

Friday and Saturday evenings will feature folk dances in the main pavilion where some of Sydney’s best dance musicians and callers will introduce their special dances to experts and beginners alike. Dancers will be able to get a taste of: English Country dance dating back as far as 1650; dances from the Celtic traditional and modern styles; colonial quadrilles and couples dances; Scottish country and Ceilidh dances including reels, jigs and strathspeys, some of which date back to the 18th century; some popular bush dances; Irish step, ceili and set dances; and American contra dances.

During the day on Saturday and Sunday, festival goers will be able to participate in an ongoing series of dance workshops featuring many of the above as well as belly dance, Israeli and international dance to name a few. Dance workshops will be interspersed with multicultural dance displays during rest periods.

Drumming
There will be lots of opportunities for drumming during the course of the festival. As well as performances, there will be several workshops, that will culminate in participation and performance in the parade and festival finale. Styles will include African, middle Eastern, Native American, as well as community drumming and percussion. Drum jams will also be an integral part of the festival, with a dedicated drum circle, that will include a stomping ground for eager dancers and fire-twirlers, to feel the rhythm.

Art
An art space will feature an exhibition by local artists as well as Photography and Multimedia. Demonstrations and hands on participation will be a feature and artists will share their knowledge at workshops over the weekend. Workshops will also be free but there will be a small cost for materials. A short film exhibition is also planned as are drama activities with local drama groups. Circus classes and demonstrations will also be there to add to the range of interesting activities on show for the community to enjoy as well as participate in.

Tipi Space & Healing Village
Our Tipi space will be a place to share knowledge and stories, a place to connect with other festival goers and a place to learn new things. We will have the opportunity to share with other cultures, including Native American wisdom, and Local Indigenous knowledge.

There will also be a chance to explore a range alternative health practices, including Yoga and meditation, spiritual guidance and councelling, reiki etc, or just relax and treat yourself to a massage.

Children’s Festival
Children will not be forgotten at CoastFest, there will be a separate festival for them within the main festival. Children will be encouraged to make craft items, to learn from music workshops, to participate in a lantern parade and to be entertained by pantomimes, spooky stories and fairy tales. They will even have their own talent quest with prizes and main stage appearances for the different category winners.

Markets
The CoastFest Markets will feature a wide range of stalls which will be restricted to the sale of items that fit within its ethos. This will include clothing, jewellery, musical items, a festival shop with performers’ CDs and merchandise, multicultural items, art, craft and anything unusual.

This will be complemented by a multicultural food court bringing the flavours of the world to Gosford. Each morning will feature a poets’ breakfast in the restaurant. Well known bush poets will host the breakfasts and encourage everyone to participate. The poems range from the very serious to the very funny and the emphasis is on variety and participation. The restaurant will, of course, be open for breakfast.

Our Environment
An ongoing theme for CoastFest will be “Caring for our Environment”. Leading environmental groups will be invited to set up information stalls, and to host information sessions throughout the weekend. Guest speakers will provide information and answer questions on a range of environmental topics, including issues such as sustainability, eco-living, organic gardening and composting, global warming, protecting endangered species etc.

Festival Theme
Our festival theme this year is “United in Diversity”-
A celebration of Unity, Family, Community and Diversity. This will be reflected in the act of us all coming together to create this event, the festival decoration, and through some of the performances.
The colours used in our logo and throughout the festival will include:
Red, Black, Yellow, White (Redskin, whiteskin, black skin, yellowskin), as well as green for our land or environment, and blue for our ocean or our spirit.
Our cultural diversity will be represented through “the medicine of symbols”, cultural symbols that have meaning for each of us.

There will be a number of activities both during the festival and leading up to the festival, where community groups or individuals can take part in creating this theme. For example Brackets and Jam events will feature prayer flag making at each event leading up to the festival, other individuals, families or community groups will be encouraged to take apart and create their very own string of prayer flags for the festival.

Venue & Ticket Prices
This years festival will take place at the Gosford Showground. The Showground has off street parking for 600 vehicles as well as ample on street parking.
Entry prices have been kept to a minimum to make it possible for everyone to attend and once in the grounds all activities are free. A season ticket entitling entry for the entire weekend is $45 with a special early bird price of $35 if purchased before 1 October. Individual day prices are: Friday evening $10; Saturday $25; Saturday evening only $15; Sunday $15. There are no concessions and children 16 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult.

Camping
The Festival site will also have a large grass area set a side for camping, the cost will be $10 per adult for the entire weekend or part thereof.

Organisers
CoastFest is the result of a coalition between the Troubadour Acoustic Music Club (who have for the past two years held a successful folk festival at Umina) and Brackets and Jam Central Coast (who have been involved in a number of music related activities on the Central Coast). Both groups also hold monthly events at Woy Woy and Kincumber respectively. Because both groups have similar interests and complementary musical tastes, their combined interests, experience, music contacts and community interest make their working together to create CoastFest a perfect synergy.

The event is a not for profit event and net profits will be shared amongst booked performers and presenters, based on their level of participation.

Performer and presenter applications close on August 5.

Program & participation
A full program will be published and circulated as well as placed on the website in September. Stall holder applications close on October 15. Volunteers will be most welcome. Seven or more hours volunteering entitles the volunteer free entry to the festival. Application forms for performers, stall-holders and volunteers can be downloaded from our website: www.CoastFest.com.au

Tickets
Tickets may be purchased over the counter from Peninsula Music at 38 George Street, Woy Woy Phone: 4342 9099 or from Moshtix either
1. online at www.moshtix.com.au
2. the following stores:
Fish Records (Balmain, Bondi Jct, Glebe, Leichhardt, Newtown), Electric Monkeys Bondi, Red Eye City, Coogee Bay Hotel, Jolly Rogers Cronulla, Central Station Darlinghurst, Next Level Haymarket, Sound World Newcastle, Beat Disc Parramatta, Re-Pressed Penrith, Leading Edge Warriewood, Red Back Wollongong.
3. phone charge (02) 9209 4614

Email: Coastfest@bracketsandjam.com

APPLY TO PERFORM
Volunteer for CoastFest
CoastFest Market Stall Application Form
CoastFest Food Stall Application Form
Click here for all the Info.