The streets of Geelong will shine with light, art and sound when White Night illuminates the city in October once more.
The festival has released the program for White Night Geelong 2022, revealing a huge array of installations and performances for the event in what organisers say will be “a transformative celebration of regional Victoria”.
The night will feature large-scale art installations, as well as pop-up performances and stage events throughout the centre of Geelong.
Creative director Joseph O’Farrell (JOF) said he and his team knew it was important to maximise their opportunity to bring a world-class event to Geelong.
“Geelong is a Unesco City of Design, it’s got the beautiful expanse of the waterfront, it’s unique,” JOF said.
“The precinct for White Night in Geelong is huge. In 2018 the event attracted 70,000 people and delivered an economic impact of $6.1m locally, so it was really important for us a programming team to think about all the opportunities of bringing an event like this to Geelong.
“White Night doesn’t happen in Melbourne anymore, and it’s such a recognised brand, so we really wanted to open up the opportunity for people to get on the train from Melbourne, or come from the Bellarine.
“We’re looking forward to catering to an intergenerational audience, and for me, the true privilege of this opportunity is to create so many memories for the different people who attend.”
JOF, who has toured the world creating art and had his work exhibited in such prestigious as the Tate Modern in London, said the theme of the event was centred around “First People’s knowledge of astronomy and astrology” and the night sky.
“The theme is ‘Everything on the land is reflected in the sky’, and that was designed in consultation with the Djarra Corporation in Bendigo,” he said.
“It’s about thing about constellations, the earth and the universe out there while reflecting on the environment and the country on which we’re creating this event – the Wathaurong country in Geelong.
“So we put that out there to the artists, to think about all those different ways in which we’re linked to the land and the imagination that comes from staring out into the great beyond.”
The program starts at 7pm, October 8 and runs through to 1am, and JOF said his team had focused on accessibility for all.
Details: whitenight.com.au/geelong/program/
