Junk orchestra, lantern and craft workshops and a day of youth activities are all set to go ahead thanks to support from the Regional Arts Development Fund a partnership between the Queensland Government and Southern Downs Regional Council supporting local arts and culture. The workshops will be taking place just prior to the festival and we will see the results at Peace in the Park on Sunday May 1st. The Youth Day will be all happening on Sat 30th April.
The Peace Festival Committee is working with Roger Knox on the development of a two-day Aboriginal Music Showcase to be held at Peace Festival 2011. This aims to encourage the enormous talent of our local Aboriginal population in the area of music and art and to share it with the broader community. The project will also involve an exchange with talented communities at Toomelah and Boggabilla. More on this project soon!
Warwick’s first Aboriginal Singing Group “Awakening Voices of Harmony” has been formed under the guidance of well-known singer and Gomeroi Elder Roger Knox. With the support of Qld Aboriginal & Islander Health Council the group is one of five established in southern Qld with the aim of assessing the impact of singing on health. Peace Festival is a proud supporter of this project and we look forward to hearing from the groups at Peace Festival 2011.
The groups performed on Oct 15th at Queens St Mall and are set to join forces again at Griffith Univeristy’s Social Inclusion Week activities on 24th November.
Roger and the singing group featured on 7.30 Report on Tues 9th November.
Monthly craft get-togethers are being held on a Saturday afternoon to learn novel ways of creating new things from old. Drawing on the skills of some very talented people we have been instructed in I-cord, Ragmatting, Ring Bags, Paper Beads and Scrapbook Cards. The last one for this year will be paper making on December 4th. Contact us to find out more!
“Taishokoto Strings” from Kumiyama, Japan have accepted our invitation to participate in the 2011 Festival. This group of musicians play the Taisho Koto, a Japanese harp based on the older and larger instrument, the Koto.
As well as performing at a concert during festival time they will be available to provide workshops for school groups.Other visitors from Kumiyama, including their soccer team will also be joining us.
