Celebrating diversity and community at the Sacrededge Festival

ACROSS three days, the Sacrededge Festival returned to the Queenscliff Uniting Church in its 11th year with an opportunity for the community to learn and connect.

The arts and diversity festival featured 40 artists from a range of different backgrounds who not only kept audiences entertained but also engaged in conversations and passed on their knowledge.

Running from May 3 to May 5, the festival had a busy schedule with hundreds of people attending, taking part in workshops of music, poetry, art and creativity.

Sacrededge program director Paul Banks said the event had an incredible lineup of artists and performers across the weekend, with many highlights.

“One of the big, powerful moments was having Kutcha Edwards, Glenn Loughrey and Tyson Yunkaporta in a yarning circle.

“The depths of sharing what they went into and sharing their challenges, trying to list some building blocks for the future of where we can go from here, I think impacted a lot of listeners and trying to sink deeper into what it means to live on the land that’s been colonised.”

The festival had a strong focus on diversity with discussions and workshops focussing on indigenous, refugee, LGBTIQ+, mental health and environmental issues.

Mr Banks said the not-for-profit event was all about having conversations that help society and was always a really influential experience.

“Our theme was diversity from the heart, and that was really trying to stand in solidarity with our First Nations People.

“It was a real mirroring of the state’s heart and really showing our priority of the festival too, to stand in solidarity after 2023.”

Mr Banks described the atmosphere of the event as magical, with the festival having a real warmth and joy around it.

“There were people there making new friendships because it is so community and it is quite a humble festival, it’s not super flashy and there was a real generosity that was shared.”

Children were also well entertained with circus art workshops, face painting, juggling and a puppet show.

For more information and footage from the event, head to the Instagram page @sacrededge_festival