The first ever Ripple Fest has successfully wrapped up after four fun-filled days in both Rochester and Echuca.
The festival began on Thursday, May 22, with the FAB GAB symposium in Rochester and wrapped up on Sunday, May 25, with live music at the Unearthed: Music Sesh Closing in Echuca.
Campaspe Shire Council’s arts and culture duo Kris Tito and Greg Pritchard created the event in collaboration with co-design groups made up of Rochester and Echuca community members.
Ms Tito said the festival was a chance for local artists and their communities to reconnect with each other through art and creativity as a form of flood recovery.
“When we’re dealing with an emergency or an urgent crisis, most things go out the window, so to be able to reconnect to a creative practice in the community again after a crisis was really important,” she said.
“For the community, it was really an opportunity to hopefully come together and just experience something a little bit different and to come together to celebrate and reconnect.
“I think that was really evident with the skate park in particular and the art dinner. There were a lot of comments around the (Rochester Shire Hall) ... that it hadn’t been sort of fully activated in that night-time context in ages.”
Throughout the festival, over 35 local and visiting creatives took part, including artists, bands, writers and performers.
The creatives hosted a range of activities, workshops and collaborative pieces, including graffiti art workshops, wand making, dance performances, live music shows, doll-making and much more.
There was a focus on youth, as seven young artists took part in the Youth Art Program and created an exhibition that was displayed at the Foundry Arts Space in Echuca.
Artists from beyond Rochester and Echuca were also invited to take part through the Pump House Artist Residency Program and other activities such as the FAB GAB symposium.
As for the future of Ripple Fest, Ms Tito said it was too soon to say whether it would return and what it would look like if it did.
“It’s a bit hard to know what the impact will be, but I think there’s a lot of interesting opportunities or things that have come out of this that could seed other ideas and connections,” she said.
“I can’t guarantee (anything) because it’s always dependent, but it is something I’d like to work towards and how it happens might be a little bit different into the future, if that’s the case, so that it’s something that can be sustainable and manageable.”
For more information about the festival and its events, visit ripplefest.com.au/