The overnight art party that is White Night is heading back to rural Victoria in September 2022 with White Night Bendigo, under the curation of creative director Joseph O’Farrell.
Highlighting Bendigo’s gold-rush era streetscapes, heritage trams, Chinese legacy and vibrant local music scene, White Night Bendigo will illuminate the town with colourful projections, transforming the streets, laneways, parks and the Bendigo foreshore.
Taking place on Saturday September 3 from 7pm through to 1am, the festival features a host of installations, musical performances and interactive works that you can get amongst until 1am. Keep an eye out for the magical, 10m-long, lion-like creature that will be stalking the streets and shimmering in crystal shards. Called ‘The Guardian’, it’s the work of Melbourne-based A Blanck Canvas.
Among 26 activations across town, Carla O’Brien’s multicoloured ‘Neon Archway’ will entice crowds into Rosalind Park, where a ‘Neon Dog Park’ will feature glowing pooches playing fetch and wagging their tails. The tranquil and intimate Yi Yuan Gardens are opened to the public for contemporary and traditional music performed by noted composer and master of the sheng (Chinese mouth organ), Zheng Ting Wang.
Among the projection works is a short film by Turner Prize-winning UK artist Martin Creed that will screen in the Engine Room on View Street. ‘You Return Work No. 1701’ depicts people of all kinds crossing a street in New York City. In Rosalind Park, ‘Faces of Darra’ shows the faces of local Traditional Owners projected onto trees.
White Night is not just a feast for the eyes but for the ears, with Bendigo’s best live music. Local bands will perform on the back of a vintage Dodge for Homegrown Stage, while other stages will be given over to blues and roots and New Orleans jazz. The Dance, Dance, Dance! Stage in Pall Mall will see local dance and community groups teaching crowds moves from hip hop to Bollywood to salsa.
One of Bendigo’s iconic heritage trams, the Cabaret Tram, becomes the stage of fabulous drag queen Art Simone and others cavorting in a celebration of LGBTQI+ culture. Meanwhile, the Heritage Sounds Tram will fill with big brass for toe-tapping performances. In a tribute to Pop Asia, the cult celebrity host Andy Trieu hits the decks at the Golden Dragon DJ Stage.
Bendigo was only the second regional Victorian town to host White Night after Ballarat, debuting in 2018 and enjoying more than 60,000 attendees. Why not book some accommodation and make a weekend of it this year? Bendigo is less than two hours drive from central Melbourne and has plenty more to offer on a short or longer break.