FRINGE Benefits, a twelve-hour live music event within Ballarat\u2019s CBD, is set to precede the sold-out Spilt Milk festival later this year.<\/p>\n
From 12pm to 12am on Friday, 29 November, the city\u2019s businesses, from cafes to clubs, will come alive with the sounds of local performing artists of all types, entertaining the Spilt Milk crowds, and Ballarat residents.<\/p>\n
For City of Ballarat\u2019s Creative City Coordinator, Tara Poole, Fringe Benefits will get hidden and well-known creative performers and musicians shining amongst the historical buildings and streets of their home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re celebrating our heritage heart, and the businesses who make the most of our city everyday by merging them with a myriad of musical and artistic performers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be 24,000 young people between 18 to 24 tooling around our city streets for 48 to 72 hours. The intention is to hook into what\u2019s going on and to reinterpret it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Spilt Milk team, having run the festival in Canberra previously, were keen to hear the idea and try something they\u2019d never done before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe proposed the concept. They\u2019ve given it standard endorsement, which means now we are segued right up close to what Spilt Milk is doing,\u201d Ms Poole said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will be having official pre-parties in the centre of town which gives a hinge point for us to work around. We\u2019re working in alignment with Spilt Milk with the marketing and conditioning of it, the look and feel, and saying to local venues, let\u2019s try and harness our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council is seeking musicians and performance artists to play, and looking for shops or venues of any kind in the heart of town to volunteer to host these performers.<\/p>\n
Musicians and places can express their interest together, or apply individually, and will be assessed and matched with the venue or performer that\u2019s right for them. The council strongly encourages these venues to pay their featured artists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pulling together a definitive calendar of events and activities, and you\u2019ve got until the 30th of August to register your Fringe Benefits event,\u201d Ms Poole said.<\/p>\n
City of Ballarat CEO Justine Linley said the live music day, in line with the Creative Cities Strategy, is all about bringing vibrancy to our streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already have a fantastic streetscape and a fantastic business community here in Ballarat, and the artistic element is something that\u2019s in our DNA. The Creative City Strategy is about bringing that out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n