Free arts event set to return

THE region’s creatively-minded will be on full display this weekend with the return of the seventh annual Smythesdale Arts and Music Fiesta.

With live music, stalls, art exhibitions, and creative workshops and happenings all to feature at the town’s historic precinct, ceramicist and fiesta manager Barry Wemyss said the event is about fostering artistic appreciation.

“It’s to bring art to the people and the people to the art,” he said.

“We’d probably see several thousand people each year and people will often come up to me and say how great the event always is. Each year, it’s growing and the feedback is always fantastic.”

The event will see a record number of free workshops focusing creative outputs like finger puppets, mosaics, felting, sketching, and printmaking, as well as one developing small sculptures of painted houses.

Art exhibitions will be on at The Well and the Prince of Wales Lodge, with the sites housing more than 120 works by 44 artists.

Curated by singer-songwriter Amie Brûlée, the live music bill will include performers Peter Daffy, and Peter Harrison, and groups like the Haddon Community Concert Band, Rhiz and the Sugarplums, Fat Tuesdays, and the Lacemakers.

Poet and fiesta veteran Megan J Riedl will present a spoken word together with guest speakers.

Roaming puppets will also feature in the event as well as a steampunk machine created by Zlatco Balazic.

Wymess said a contributor to the very first fiesta will also leave their mark on the upcoming event.

“We’ll have Jon Lam finishing off a big mural painting on the workroom behind the old courthouse,” he said. “He’s almost finished it and it’s looking very fantastic and will be a great addition to the space.

“This is through the progress association and we wanted it to coincide with the event.

“He painted a mural for us at our very first fiesta on the central panel of the native garden bed we created.”

The Smythesdale Arts and Music Fiesta will run this Sunday from 10am to 3pm.