For the Festival’s opening night dance pageant, you are invited to bring a seat and slip on your street shoes. You’ll be tapping your feet as we celebrate the abundant dance and musical talent of our region. Then as the show moves into the whirling climax of a street dance fiesta, you’ll be swinging with the street beat.

Part show ride, part street procession, and all danced, the Opening Night Pageant draws upon our long history of show parades and processions, and melds it with the spin of a ride, the dynamics of dance and the spirit of a country street.

Beginning with a Wominjika welcome to country, and a dance specially created in collaboration with Jaara Jaara elders and hip hop dancers, more than 150 central Victorian dancers will be joined by Rocco Grimaldi and his Pandemonium Band.

Motorists, street sweepers, road crossing supervisors, cyclists and exceptional dance makers, will create a sparkling procession of dance moves infiltrated by street pandemonium, and a grande finale that will bring everyone to their feet … dancing.

Co-producer Punctum

Dance moves and marvels from our legendary makers, the acme of beat, motor magic from our street, and processions and pandemonium in the sweep of feet

Building on the Castlemaine Festival’s historic tradition of a children’s parade, the Children’s Day Parade will kick off featuring the Migration Marching Band; a foot-stomping, street orchestra of the musicians and children who have developed their instruments and pieces during the previous week. Playing their instruments, wearing costumes and carrying the puppets they have made, children and adults will take part in this unique Victory Park event, created by them for the enjoyment of all of us.

Everyone involved in the Parade is to meet at the Victory Park marquee at 11.00am on Saturday 9 April. All welcome.

Then stick around for the Festival Picnic and help make Castlemaine’s biggest ever picnic rug. Enjoy your BYO picnic lunch or some of the delicious food available in the park. There will be short performances, roving characters and lots of other surprises planned for the afternoon.

There will be space to store your picnic rug and food on the day if you and your family are involved in the parade! The Picnic will begin at approx. 12.30pm.

The Festival welcomes the participation of all lovers of music, whether accomplished or simply inspired. In these free after-school workshops, you will have the rare opportunity to create your own panpipes, hand drums, boing pipes and okarinas.

Then, following each session, Victory Park’s autumn twilight hours will be acoustically lit up with community jams led by local percussionist and musical director Justin Marshall, who, together with amateur and professional musicians, will explore Klezmer, Celtic, Latin and African musical genres.

Building on the Castlemaine Festival’s historic tradition of a Children’s Parade, the 2011 Schools Program and after-school instrument-making workshops will culminate in the Children’s Day Parade and Picnic on Saturday 9 April in Victory Park, at which instruments created and pieces learnt at the community jams will be performed.

Download Jam Music here:
Jam Music in B flat
Jam Music in C
Jam Music in E flat

IRISH CELTIC — Monday 4 April
Allan Evans is an exciting young musician from Taradale who is at the forefront of the young Celtic music scene in Victoria. He plays Irish flute and Celtic harp and is a member of the award-winning band Shanachie. Allan has chosen a couple of traditional Irish tunes for the jam session and parade. Bring your fiddle, whistle, flute, guitar and mandolin. There will also be parts for horns and percussion.
The Lark’s March (Ireland)

SOUTH AFRICAN KWELA — Tuesday 5 April
Andy Rigby will lead the jam session with this swinging Southern African style of township jive. The lead instruments are often pennywhistles, but all instruments are welcome. Horns, guitars and percussion set this style up as great parade music. Andy leads the Kwela Street Band at the National Folk Festival, Canberra. Kwela Medley – (S.A)

KLEZMER — Wednesday 6 April
The Castlemaine Klezmer Kollective will lead us through a couple of tunes from this popular Eastern European style of Jewish cultural music. Violins, clarinets, accordions, mandolins, guitars, percussion, horns; all are welcome. Happy Nigun – (Klezmer)

BRAZILIAN SAMBA — Thursday 7 April
Wendy Rowlands from Newstead has led many Latin music ensembles and brings a classic Brazilian song to this community jam experience. From the home of samba street percussion, this is bound to have a big energy. Parts available for all instruments. Asa Branca (Brazil)

This year the Castlemaine Festival’s Schools Program will again involve over 1500 primary-aged children from the 18 local primary schools in the Shire. Children will be engaged in an extraordinary range of multi-arts and cultural events, including traditional local Indigenous Dreaming dance workshops and ‘Saltbush’, an internationally acclaimed Italian/Australian interactive multimedia dance theatre piece.

Children will attend informative artists’ talks by exhibitors selected for the 2011 Castlemaine Visual Arts Biennial, and experience hands-on art-making with leading national and international artists, including special guest — world-renowned sculptor/printmaker Heri Dono (Indonesia).

Saltbush is an exquisite interactive journey through the culture and landscape of Aboriginal Australia, celebrated through live dance, music, song and stories. Internationally acclaimed Italian company Compagnia TPO has worked in collaboration with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians to create another beautiful piece in the highly acclaimed Children’s Cheering Carpet series.

The Saltbush narrative centres on the journey of two friends from different Aboriginal backgrounds as they cross Australia on foot, and is performed on a touch-sensitive floor using infra-red imaging technology that triggers images and sound. Their journey sees them travel across diverse Australian landscapes (countries) — river country, an urban landscape, desert and the sea. The journey is one of discovering the land (country), growing an understanding and acknowledging how it challenges or provokes personal journeys.

Children are invited to explore, play and dance with the performers as the landscape unfolds around them, providing a unique immersive experience, where the audience can become part of this visually beautiful journey.

Co-Artistic directors Davide Venturini (Italy) & Jason Cross (Australia)  Dramaturgy Sasha Zahra (Australia)  Composer/musician Lou Bennett (Australia/Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung)  Choreographer Deon Hastie (Australia/Tjapukai)  Dancer Rosealee Pearson (Australia/Yolngu)  Dancer Sani Townson (Australia/Saibai Koedal)  Narrator/performer Jada Alberts (Australia/Larrakia)  Visual artist/designer Delwyn Mannix (Australia/Wangkangurru)  Digital designer Elsa Mersi (Italy)  Technical designer Rossano Monti (Italy)  Sound designer Spartaco Cortesi (Italy)  Artistic collaborations Edoardo Donatini & Francesco Gandi (Italy)  Technical operators Niccolo Gallio & Alberto Martino (Italy)  Tour creative producer Insite Arts — Lee Cumberlidge & Jason Cross (Australia)  TPO manager Valentina Martini (Italy)

The seas have risen, the human race is on the brink of destruction and only one man can save the world. Now science and humanity are turning to the oceans. A last ditch effort to save the human race requires journeying down through the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for us to live.

This is micro-epic theatre that melds technology and comedy in a touching story of enduring love at the end of the world.

Alvin Sputnik, Deep Sea Explorer, is our unlikely hero in a curious and fantastical production that will captivate audiences of all ages. Creator and performer Tim Watts uses mime, puppetry, and live and recorded music with animation to present an exploration of the next and oldest frontier: the deep blue sea.

This show is REALLY not to be missed.

Winner Best Solo Show 2009 New York International Fringe

Winner Best Puppetry 2010 Adelaide Fringe Festival

A Weeping Spoon production presented in association with Perth Theatre Company.

SUPPORTED BY MEZ WOODWARD

This year, Global Gardens will wrap up the Festival with a full day devoted to music, dance and food from around the world. The event will celebrate Victoria’s diverse cultures with strong representation by exceptional artists living and working in central Victoria.

There will be two main performance areas: a main stage featuring bands and musicians, and a dance workshop stage hosted by dance leaders who will conduct performance workshops in traditional and contemporary dance styles.

The wealth of global influences on central Victoria’s food and wine industry will be reflected in the breadth of fare available, including scrumptious morsels from Castlemaine’s famous Farmers Market.
Bring a picnic and settle into a day of complete festive pleasure.

The Global Garden is a free event for all ages.

MAIN STAGE

11-11.45am: Louie Prez – Latin Jazz

12.45-1.30pm: George Kamikawa & Noriko Tadano – Japanese blues

2-2.45pm: Musiki Manjaro – West African

3.15-4pm: Carlito’s Way – Cuban/Latin

4.30-4.45pm: Grace Vanilau Samoan Body Percussion

4.45-5.30pm: Bombay Royale – Indian/Bollywood

DANCE WORKSHOP STAGE

11.45-12.05pm: Didge Fusion

12.05-12.15pm: Jida Indigenous dance welcome

12.15-12.45pm: Crow dreaming dance workshop

1.30-2pm: EACC Sudanese dance workshop

2.45-3.15pm: iDance Latin dance workshop

4.00-4.30pm: Singh Sisters Indian dance workshop

ACOUSTIC STAGE

Morning: Chinese lions & drummers

12, 1 & 3pm: Joseph Bromley – Celtic harp and accordion

12.30, 1.30 & 2.30pm: Sayon Souare (bolon) and Molly Souare (gongoma)

2 & 3.30pm: Grace Vanilau – Samoan Body percussion