Three weekends of cabaret entertainment

THE Ballarat Cabaret Festival will open next weekend with a Cabaret Ball celebrating Ballarat’s community dance groups.

The event will be held at the Buninyong Town Hall and will include ballroom dancers, boot scooters, South Asian dance, Argentinian tango and burlesque.

“Don’t worry if you can’t dance,” said festival director Issie Hart.

“Bring your two left feet and your enthusiasm. It is a great chance to learn a few steps.

“We hope the Buninyong community will embrace the event, come along and have some fun.”

The festival runs over three weekends with something for all the family.

On Sunday 17 May, the party continues with Tassels and Tummies – A Fat Burlesque.

“Tassels and Tummies is more than a burlesque show, is a reclaiming of space,” Hart said.

“It challenges narrow beauty standards and the marginalisation of fat performers within traditional cabaret and burlesque contexts, offering audiences an experience that is joyful, unapologetic, and deeply embodied.”

Attendees can expect high production values, strong audience connection, and performances ranging from sensual and playful to defiant and emotionally resonant.

On Friday 22 May, the festival will co-host a daytime dance party for NDIS participants, with more information at flowtndis.com.au

The final weekend of the festival features 11 performances from six shows over four days, 28-31 May.

“We have a jam-packed series of shows at the Black Box Theatre, Arts Academy campus, Federation University,” Hart said.

“It will feature a host of internationally celebrated cabaret and variety artists and shows created by graduate artists of the Arts Academy. I was an arts graduate from Federation Uni 20 years ago and it is wonderful to be able to support the local up-and-coming talent.”

Anyone interested in volunteering can email expressions of interest to [email protected]

For more information and tickets visit ballaratcabaretfestival.com