Melbourne's new winter arts festival Rising has announced it will "pause" the festival and cancel swathes of events. The decision to cancel follows the news that Victoria will enter a week-long lockdown from 11.59pm on Thursday, May 27.
All Rising events from 5pm on May 27 until June 4 have been cancelled, and refunds will be offered to those who held tickets. Victoria's lockdown is expected to last until 11.59pm on June 3, and Rising organisers will make a decision about events planned for June 4 to June 6 in the coming week. Bookings for all Rising events have currently been paused.
The festival's co-artistic directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek shared the following statement: "While today’s developments are devastating, we are buoyed by the sheer resilience of the staff and artists involved with Rising. Together they have created something that spoke to Melbourne; something beautiful and beguiling; something that would have reawakened our city. Together, they created something extraordinary, for extraordinary times. We could not be prouder."
Tickets for Patricia Piccinini's A Miracle Constantly Repeated remain valid if they were booked for a time slot up until 5pm on May 27. Tickets for times after 5pm will be cancelled and refunded, but you can rebook for dates after July 1.
This was the inaugural year of Rising, and the festival was able to run for one full day before the lockdown was announced. If you would like to make a donation to the festival, you can do so here.