Castlemaine State Festival Announces 2011 Program

In a ceremony of pomp and circumstance led by festival director, Martin Paten, The Castlemaine State Festival yesterday announced its full program for this year's festival. The announcement was preceded by a VLine train arriving at Castlemaine station with wrapped around it a Castlemain State Festival banner. Street performers included a clown cop on stilts, a brass band and a Chinese dancing lion.

The program for 2011 includes artists from the Central Victorian Goldfields region, Melbourne as well as artists from other parts of the globe. “I am proud to say the Castlemaine State Festival is dedicated to profiling world-class artists, and collaborations between the local community and the international arena, through a jam-packed 10 days of theatre, dance, music, literary talks, mentorships, exhibitions and open studios,” said festival director, Martin Paten.

One of the festival highlights is the Castlemaine Visual Arts Biennial, only in its second year boasts artwork by Indonesian artist and festival guest, Heri Dono, as well as international artists such as William Kentridge, Aleks Danko, Jill Orr and Emily Floyd.

Following the success of 2009's sold out concerts, 30 music events have been scheduled for this year's festival including performances from international musicians such as Beyond The Pale (Canada), Massimo Scattolin (Italy), Youssoupha Sibie and the Mystic Rhythm Band (Senegal), Batucada Sound Machine (New Zealand). There will naturally be an awesome selection of local groups such as Speak Percussion, The Bamboos, Cosmo Cosmolino, ACO2 too.

The Literary program, curated by poet Cate Kennedy, will feature 34 speakers, including Carmel Bird, Mark Dapin, Shane Maloney, Hannie Rayson and Bronwyn Lea, amongst others. The Theatre program will feature the exclusive world premieres of Catherine Ryan's Precipice and Kage's Sundowner, a moving body of work featuring stories about Alzheimer's which includes music by Paul Kelly and Megan Washington.

In a true display of support for local talent, over 50% of participating artists at the festival come from the Central Victorian region. The festival takes place from April 1-10 and more information can be found at Castlemaine Festival's website.