For Heaven’s Sake
There’s a lot going on in Footscray on Saturday 21 November, so whether or not it’s your neighbourhood, you should definitely consider heading west to join the fun. This free event starts at 10am, and between then and 4pm it’s packed with over 40 outdoor performances and general shenanigans.
Besides the obligatory food trucks and craft vendors, you can join what sounds like the best dance-related novelty since the silent disco: Dance Runway. Take a movement-centric trip (after collecting your boarding pass) and dance your way up Nicholson Street. Dancers depart every half hour, so gather your posse and keep your leg-warmers handy. Once you’re done, you probably owe it to your leotard to do some hula-hooping, which is, naturally, available in two forms: actual hooping and hoop decorating.
Born In A Taxi is bringing a celestial basket of interactive oddness with For Heaven’s Sake. Angels man the phones for the departments of Compassion, Advice and Punishment inside a sublime terrarium, and they’re ready to take your calls. Or you can learn some weird puppetry with Snuff Skool, or just mooch around listening to DJ nifty’s BOOMbox.
The activist heart of the festival is never far away. This Is Not a Protest addresses the right to seek asylum and the restrictions on media covering the condition of asylum seekers as well as the broader issue of housing. Audience members will join a procession to the ‘House’ via an infuriating system of lucky dips, numbers and queues. Once inside, it’s up to your asylum-seeker-turned-interviewer to determine if you’ll get to stay – and you will get to decide if you want to do so.
There is a softer side to the festival too – an opportunity to pet a ‘bunnyman’ in an over-sized hutch on the back of a truck, drink artisanal lemonade and soak in the atmosphere.
So whether you are drawn by politics or pampering, I’ll see you in Footscray.
When: Saturday 21 November, 10am to 4pm
Where: Nicholson Street, Footscray
Free
