Creativity and conversation drive mental health festival

MENTAL health will be front and centre on the Surf Coast through the next week, as Art of the Minds’ annual festival makes its return.

The festival, which has been running since 2015, aims to spark connection and conversation, raise awareness and break the stigma of mental illness.

The festival will kick off today (Friday, October 3) with an open mic poetry night at Great Ocean Road Gin in Torquay. At just $5 a ticket, the popular event is again expected to draw a big crowd, with everyone invited to take to the stage.

Sunday (October 5), however, will mark the festival’s official launch, with the community set to gather at AAH Healing in Aireys Inlet for Art of the Minds’ annual art exhibition.

Spanning sculpture, mixed media and paintings, this year’s art show responds to the theme of “connection”, with each artwork created by someone impacted by mental illness.

This year’s centrepiece event is the Big Boys Breakfast at Bunnings Torquay on October 10.

Free to the public for the first time, the event will feature a barbecue breakfast, barista-made coffee, live entertainment by Lachy Hurrel – last year’s winner of the Art of the Minds’ songwriting contest – and a range of motivational speakers who will share stories about mental health, recovery and connection.

“We’re trying to connect with younger tradies, and we knew that Bunnings had a great connection to those young men,” Art of the Minds president Sarah Molnar said.

“Anyone can register and come along on the day.”

The festival’s much-loved paddle out event, held in collaboration with therapeutic surfing charity Ocean Mind, will again take place on World Mental Health Day (October 10), while former Art of the Minds president Jules Haddock will host a laughing yoga session at the Salty Dog on October 9.

“Adults don’t laugh enough,” Ms Molnar explained. “And the suggestion is that it is intrinsically linked to our mental health.

“If we laugh more, it starts to release those endorphins, and apparently, it’s quite contagious.

“Even passers-by in previous years have walked past and started laughing themselves. It’s an interesting exercise and I implore everyone to try that one.”

This year’s festival follows Art of the Minds’ recent success at the Torquay Business Awards, where it was honoured with the Event of the Year award.

Ms Molnar said it had “put some wind in [the team’s] sails”, leaving them eager to continue building on its success.

“We realise that the secret sauce to our festival has been storytelling. If you share just one person’s story, it resonates more than spruiking fact.

“Our hope is that it (the festival) will increase the empathy within the community around mental health.

“I implore everyone to come on down and experience these events. They’re free. We just want to find creative ways of connecting with our community.”

For more information, or to see the full program of events, visit artoftheminds.org.au