Print is part of Broadsheet’s DNA. “Always online, sometimes in print” has been our unofficial tagline since January 2010, when we began distributing free quarterly newspapers to cafes around Melbourne.

The format has come and gone since then, but remains close to our hearts. It’s a more leisurely, tactile and immersive experience, one reading on a screen will never match.

We were thrilled last year when Rising – Melbourne’s 12-day surge of art, music and ceremony under a winter moon – asked us to help introduce the city to the festival by way of a special print issue dedicated entirely to the program. Like the 100,000 other people who bought tickets last year, we were gutted when the festival was called off less than a day into its debut run.

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After that false start, the lead-up to Rising 2022 (June 1–12) feels even more charged. As Broadsheet founder and publisher Nick Shelton said last year, “It’s going to be huge – the most significant arts festival this city, or perhaps this country, has ever seen. I have no doubt it will become a cornerstone of the Asia-Pacific festival circuit.”

We’ve once again produced a special print edition for Rising, which is now available for free in selected cafes, restaurants, bars, shops and hotels across the city. If your local is in our directory, chances are you’ll find a copy there.

Inside, read about the sprawling, psychedelic wonderland taking over Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the profound projections and performance art lighting up Chinatown, the stacked music program curated by Triple R’s Woody McDonald, the free and “just really cool” laser installation beaming one kilometre down the Yarra each night, and so, so much more.

All these stories were written specifically for the paper, but as usual, everything has also been made available online, just in case you can’t track down a copy. Do your best, though. Like we said, nothing beats the experience of spreading a paper across a cafe table and flicking through over your morning coffee.