PRESS RELEASE
The Town roleplays a whimsical mock village for three days, but this fictional wonderland has had to juggle real world threats, floods, fires, covid & inflation to keep the dream alive.
In the end, the magic seems to always win.
Culture Jam is hosting their seventh Town Festival in November. This incredibly unique immersive event is full of characters, themed spaces and even a daily newspaper. Licola provides the perfect site for this, a former mining Town which now runs 95% of its energy from solar panels.
The Town’s tight-knit following, who love to bring their own characters and ideas, has created a culture where people come for the atmosphere over the lineup. This was exemplified in 2017, when the festival sold out without announcing a single act (although having Tash Sultana play the year before may have helped).
This culture-over-lineup attitude was a response to Big Day Out’s collapse, and the festival director Michael Scarlett realising that if you need to keep upping the ante on an annual lineup, you will eventually price yourself out.
But that doesn’t mean The Town hasn’t faced its challenges: Having to set up an entire festival in under 24 hours due to a double booking, unruly neighbors trying to sabotage the event permit, bushfires within 6km of the site two weeks out, Covid hitting two months before the festival and so much rainfall leading up to the event the river broke its flood bank.
Logically, the director shares, it often feels insane to run The Town. But listening to his heart he retains faith to keep it going year after year. There is a tangible magic that drives the event and this is felt by its attendees, making it one of Australia’s most beloved festivals.
Its principles include family friendly environments, creativity over consumption, learning through role-play and using fantasy to create real world change. For example, a theatrical ‘auction’ of one of the onsite cabin houses saw $1500 raised for the Asylum Resource Centre.
The festival this year is set in the 90’s - a nostalgic world just before tech addiction took over. It will host everything from a recreation of Nirvana’s MTV unplugged set, to a Big Brother House, to an immersive video store where actors act out the movies you select. From cheesy 90’s music at the high school prom, skaters & goths littering the streets, to the confident charm of businesses that thought they’d last forever.
At The Town, imagination is limitless and we all build the energy together.
Patrons create themed campsites, bring their own mailbox and elaborate dress ups and playful skits can be seen unfolding around every corner.
Amongst the absurdity is a beautiful community that makes it one of Victoria’s safest festivals. This is another way that The Town is continuing amongst a festival climate that has many concerned. It prides itself on self-care, land care, community care and truly building something special each year.
As highlighted by Time Out UK’s Coolest Events of 2019, the Town is one of Victoria’s best-kept secrets, but welcomes all who want to come play.