Melbourne’s edgy new winter festival Rising reveals line-up

A nude disco and sonic bathing are part of the line-up for an event that is shaping up to be Melbourne’s equivalent of Dark Mofo.

A 200-metre long glowing eel will wind its way up Birrarung Marr at Melbourne’s inaugural winter festival, Rising.

A nude disco, 200-metre glowing eel on the Yarra, sonic bathing further up the river, and an extravagant nightly banquet at Town Hall are among the 130 events and projects to feature at Melbourne’s inaugural winter festival, Rising.

Rising will showcase 750 Victorian artists in venues across Melbourne, including the rarely-used Flinders St Station Ballroom, from May 26 to June 6. The festival includes 36 world premiere commissions.

Other projects include the Myer Music Bowl being transformed into a supernatural forest of ice and art, lit by an inflatable moon measuring 7-metres in diameter.

Elsewhere, Melbourne’s music purveyors will compete in “sound system” clash, playing bass-heavy reggae, jungle and hip hop through a “monolithic Stonehenge configuration of speakers” at the Town Hall.

Rising’s creative directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek with sound systems that will feature at Heavy Congress, a bass-heavy battle for music supremacy. Picture: Alex Coppel.

“The vibration going through the wood floors will amplify it even more,” said Hannah Fox, Rising’s co-artistic director, with Gideon Obarzanek. “I’m really hoping those chandeliers survive.”

Fox, an artist who also worked as a creative director at Hobart’s Dark Mofo, said Rising will have its own identity.

She said: “Dark Mofo is absolutely a festival of place, and so is Rising. Rising is about Melbourne. It’s really not trying to replicated anything from anywhere else. It’s about our city, our artists and our audiences coming together.

“The ambition and scale of it, in terms of new, original local content is really unprecedented,” Fox added “It’s super broad in terms of the work we’re presenting.”

Patricia Piccinini in the Flinders St Station Ballroom. Picture: Pete Tarasiuk.

Patricia Piccinini and one of her art works

As Dark Mofo and Sydney’s Vivid Festival have proven, winter is conducive for staging successful arts events.

“I’m banking on Melburnians rugging up and coming out,” Fox said. “We’re a late night city;

that’s what we’re about. I want to see the city vibrant and thriving again.

“A big part of what we’re trying to do is create a saturation and critical mass of things to do all in the same night, so you don’t just go to one thing and go home. There are multiple connected experiences throughout the whole city. Pus, I think Melbourne has really earned the right to party.”

Rising will take place across five zones – the Birrarung, Chinatown, Arts District, Midtown and Satellite sites.

Flow State

The program includes:

An immersive multi-sensory experience, titled A Miracle Constantly Repeated, by artist Patricia Piccinini, at the Flinders St Station Ballroom, and 15 adjacent and secret rooms.

Piccinini will create a walkable ecosystem of hyper-real silicon sculptures, video, sound and light.

An undulating, 200-metre-long, glowing eel made from community-made lanterns, winding its way up Birrarung Marr.

Flow State, a sonic bathing experience on Herring Island, with actual water baths and deep audio to take the soaking participant to another level.

Club Purple, a naturist disco. Participants get naked and hit the dancefloor. And get this, the DJ takes requests.

The Wilds, a supernatural forest of ice, art, music and moonlight at Myer Music Bowl, which include an ice-skating rink on the stage.

A giant inflatable moon will light up the sky at The Wilds. Picture: Luke Jerram.

Heavy Congress, a “sound system” battle with competing crews from grids including Coburg, Brunswick and North Melbourne, fighting for bass boss supremacy.

Live music shows by The Necks, Ed Kuepper, Mess Esque, Julia Jacklin, Luluc and Marlon Williams.

Mess Hall, a foodie dream involving well-known chefs, and a nightly four-course banquet called The Dinner Party, at the Town Hall. The venue will also host Late Night Yum Cha, and The Stock Exchange, serving broth prepared different artisan every day.

The Dispute, a theatre work that sees children take the stage to describe the fallout of their parents’ separation in their own words.

Tickets for Rising events go on sale on Wednesday at rising.melbourne