Pop-up classical music, site-specific theatre and aerial acrobatics will all feature on the opening night of You Are Here, Canberra's curated festival of emerging and experimental art, which returns for the fifth time on Wednesday.
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Artists are taking the opportunity the festival provides to challenge themselves and others, Vanessa Wright, on of YAH's four producers, said. "We're showcasing the incredible arts scene we have in Canberra".
Neon Night Rider, in which cyclists embellish themselves with neon for a nocturnal ride around Lake Burley Griffin on March 20, is one of the events returning from last year.
The festival is presented in conjunction with Arts ACT, Events ACT and Canberra CBD Limited.
She said that although this year's festival was a more "manageable" five days instead of the previous 10, proceedings would continue as usual. The festival will again be based in an unused space: this year in the old subterranean JB HiFi/Impact Records space in Civic, redubbed The Record Store, where an independent record booth will operate.
"We're taking it back to its roots."
She said the opening night program would begin at The Record Store at 6pm and would include visual arts, performance, theatre, dance and music.
Wright said there would be about 50 events during YAH, which overlapped with the Noted Festival, taking place at venues including Canberra Museum and Gallery, Smiths Alternative, Phoenix Pub and the Street Theatre.
Ill Advised Night Out, the third annual sleepover at Canberra Museum and Gallery, will take place on March 21, with music, videos and breakfast the next morning.
While the emphasis will be on Canberra talent, there will also be some outsiders. Coming to the nation's capital for the first time will be The Cutting Room Floor from Perth with its show F--- Decaf.
The company's artistic director, Scott Corbett, directed the play by Tyler Jacob Jones in which party animal Kate (played by Anne-Marie Biagioni) and serial relationship jumper Ruby (Amanda Watson) discuss their relationship dramas and come to realise they share an addiction to love.
Corbett said, "It's a comedy, a lot of fun. It gets a bit messy when they start fighting".
The play started as a site-specific pop-up work at a Perth cafe. In Canberra it will be on at the As You Like It Cafe in The Street Theatre on March 21 and 22.
You Are Here festival is on from March 18 to 22. Website: youareherecanberra.com.au.
