Zoe Bayer from event production and PR agency The Background assures that it’s been a busy few months getting the interactive spectacular off the ground.
“It has been lots of work to get it to the point where it’s at now, which we’re excited about,” Bayer says. “It’s been a big collaboration, obviously, with the number of different arts organisations in the west, so [we’re] delivering something that is a true reflection of the arts culture here.”
With over 50 events and a range of different artistic outlets, Due West is a plethora of unique nomadic delights spread out across Melbourne’s western suburbs. As creative directors of the festival, The Background sought “opportunities to move around this area that we call home, and explore it in different ways.”
“We created the creative direction for it in terms of it being an immersive arts festival, so it encourages people to engage and participate across a number of art disciplines and also bases itself in the west,” says Bayer. “There’s a number of events that are run in traditional art settings, and then others that are more offbeat – squares and laneways, and that sort of thing.”
A good example of Due West’s one-of-a-kind nature is The Night Circus, a moving performance across three iconic Footscray sites. Complete with aerial performers, a power house troupe of idiosyncratic circus women and a factory site next door alive with a choir, you can have a go yourself afterward with an adult’s pop-up circus workshop.
Over at Maddern Square, you’ll find Ten-Minute Dance Parties, where you’ll step inside a container and party hard in a highly-theatrical spectacle. It coincides with Art Of Fighting, where you’ll get to meet local boxing identities, dip boxing gloves in paint and punch your craft onto a canvas.
“We had a really good response,” Bayer says. “We set out an EOI process, and we also spoke to a number of different leading arts organisations within the west. They were all so keen to get on board, and really excited about an opportunity to showcase this area. I think a lot of people in the west are very proud of [their neighbourhood]. It’s a really nice opportunity to partner with some of these organisations – and artists in general – to give them a platform to showcase their work.”
With most of the events free, Due West hopes to be an opportunity for everyone to experience something new, be it those who experience the diverse world arts on a regular basis, a family looking for a great night out or someone just wanting to see a cabaret show for the very first time. Already equipped with a broad palette of the unique and wonderful, the future of Due West looks bright to Beyer.
“We would like to see it grow and grow, and have an opportunity to have great collaboration and planning for ongoing, really, really special events,” Bayer continues. “Bringing in new things and working on collaborations with the local community. It really is something that we want to be of interest to obviously people outside the City Of Maribyrnong, but also, as an event for locals made by locals.”
