Colour and life to brighten the night

THE much-anticipated return of White Night Ballarat is only one sleep away.

The free community event, which sees the city’s heritage buildings become canvases for projected artworks and light shows, has the theme of ‘serendipitous adventures’ in 2024.

About 95 per cent of creatives featured are local to Ballarat, including visual artist Deborah Klein.

Her series of Moth Women, which have been specially animated for the night, are set to make an impact on Cobb’s Corner, the south-west corner of Sturt and Lydiard streets.

Klein got a sneak peek of her art up in lights when technicians tested the projections on Tuesday night.

“This corner is particularly beautiful, and the building has always caught my imagination because the dome is missing on the top,” Klein said.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be part of it, and I’ve had lots of feedback about how excited other people are for all the local content.”

Thirty-eight separate installations are part of the 2024 program.

About 70 people have submitted photographs as part of the Tattooed City projections, with 16 hours of footage shot by White Night’s production team for that work alone.

Three live music stages, interactive artworks, and food and drink offerings are drawcards alongside the spectacular visuals.

“It’s going to surprise people, it’s pretty edgy,” artistic director and creative producer Andrew Walsh said. “It’s intense.

“There will be 10 lasers coming out of the old post office tower alone, which will be seen as far as Buninyong and Creswick.

“Camp Street will be really immersive, with eight separate and radically different artists featured, tied together by a single soundtrack.”

About 40,000 people attended the last White Night in Ballarat in 2019, and Walsh expects that record to be broken.

“This is a free event, completely accessible to everybody,” he said.

“There are 75 bricks and mortar bars and restaurants that are part of the program, and then the whole of Doveton Street is the White Night Bites food court, with 15 food vans, fire pits, marquees and its own little stage with music to munch by.”

White Night Ballarat will run from 6pm to midnight on Saturday 1 June. Roads will be closed, allowing for attendees to wander from street to street.

Visit whitenight.com.au/Ballarat for more information.