White Night 2022 – Bendigo and Geelong

Sat 8th October, 2022
7:00pm – 1:00am
Multiple locations in Geelong
The late-night festival of light, art, music and entertainment returns to regional Victoria, with immersive projections, interactive installations, street food stalls and more.

In Melbourne, White Night has been replaced by ambitious arts festival Rising, which debuted in 2021 and takes place over multiple days rather than the single night it once was. But that old format is set to make a return – not in the capital, but in regional Victoria.

White Night Geelong and White Night Bendigo will see the late-night festival take over the two cities’ streets for the first time since 2018, and organisers say it’ll be “bigger, bolder and bursting with creativity and colour”.

Both public and private spaces are being transformed into canvases for more than 50 large-scale works spanning light projections, live music, interactive art installations, video projects and more. Over 300 local and international artists are participating, with the majority based in regional Victoria.

In Bendigo, the city’s gold rush-era streetscapes, heritage trams and Chinese history take centrestage. Buildings are being splashed with projections and art by First Nations artists Troy Firebrace and Natasha Carter, while a shimmering gold creature resembling a lion – spanning 10 metres – by Melbourne art studio A Blanck Canvas will roam through the streets.

Drag artists are getting behind the wheels of the Cabaret Tram for a celebration of LGBTQI+ culture, and there’ll be live DJ sets in front of the vibrant and colourful White Rabbit Candy Buffet by Derek Ho. And in Rosalind Park, be welcomed by a glittering neon archway then step into Neon Dog Park, an installation that includes glowing dogs.

On the Geelong program, the projections by The Electric Canvas use artworks by First Nations artists Kait James, Billy-Jay O’Toole and Jenna Oldaker, while portraits of 40 community members will also be projected onto buildings to highlight the city’s diversity. A thrilling performance piece called Heavy Metal involves a car being flattened by an industrial crusher to a soundtrack of heavy metal guitar riffs.

Giant musical instruments, underwater creatures and baby eels have been turned neon as part of different art installations, or you can sit under a canopy of handcrafted flowers that sigh, yawn and buzz. Plus, art exhibitions by local and interstate artists, performances in a waterfront project space, IRL dancers meet the virtual world and more.

Both cities are also getting a giant pulsating "mind" buzzing with neurons; a nine-metre-tall unicorn skull radiating with light; and giant amphibians undulating together like waves.

White Night Bendigo is taking place on Saturday September 3 while White Night Geelong is on Saturday October 8. Both festivals take place from 7pm to 1am.

whitenight.com.au

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