Maroochy Music & Visual Arts Festival Is Being Invaded By Aliens

Spring is an exciting time — the jeans and jackets are locked in the cupboard for another year and battered thongs are unearthed. The surf suddenly looks appealing again, skin loses its translucency and overalls become a 'thing' again. But for the vast majority of us, Spring means one thing only: festival season. 

A festival on the Sunny Coast sounds, well, luscious to say the least, and those behind the upcoming Maroochy Music & Visual Arts Festival are all for the burgeoning Brisbane music scene. "It's the genuinely good nature of the punters on the Sunny Coast. It's an overwhelmingly friendly, passionate and receptive festival audience who contribute to the supremely vibe-y atmosphere of the fest and spur our desire to continue bringing outrageously good music to Maroochydore each year," muses Zac Abroms, the talent coordinator and music enthusiast behind the festival's line-up. "Australia [has] really gotten on board with festivals," adds Erin Fitzsimon of Brissy act Inigo, who will be performing at the festival. "I think it's a combination of both the music and culture that provides a sense of togetherness — whether it be to party, dance or hang. Australia's so supportive of Australian music, which is a really positive thing to take on as an emerging artist, but also proves that we can hold our own on an international scale. I love that festivals provide a smorgasbord of acts and I always walk away with some new favourites that I end up listening to forever."

"It's an overwhelmingly friendly, passionate and receptive festival audience who contribute to the supremely vibe-y atmosphere of the fest and spur our desire to continue bringing outrageously good music to Maroochydore each year."

And it's not just a world-class line-up that will excite punters. "I think that, as a whole, contemporary society is becoming more interested in visual art forms," says James Birrell, the brains behind the artistic component of Maroochy's festivities. "I think that this is largely due to artists breaking down the traditional ideas of what art should be and how it should be experienced. I think festivals are centered around experience and that modern art is becoming more about experiencing art rather than just viewing it or collecting it," he explains.

For Queensland punters, there's something big looming on the horizon. Literally. MMVAF is all about creating an immersive experience — in art, in culture, in music and, this year, in space. Pioneering the journey punters will take into a 'magical realm' is renowned installation artist Amanda Parer, who will bring giant celestial beings from far away universes down to the Old Horton Park Golf Course. The piece is part of Parer's conceptual project, the Fantastic Planet series: "Inspiration for this light installation has been taken from the 1973 Czech/French film Fantastic Planet. This stop motion science fiction film directed by Rene Laloux depicted a story set in an unimaginably distant future in a world of gargantuan humanoids, and where human beings are a feral race." 

This year, five giant, illuminated beings will 'invade' MMVAF. "These giants from afar will give audiences the impression that they have just landed and are quietly and gently exploring our 'fantastic planet'. As with my previous public art exhibit Intrude [the "giant rabbit installation" that could be spotted at the inaugural MMVAF last year], these forms will not be randomly placed sculptures, but can be rather strategically placed to give the impression that the giant humanoids have taken over entire site… So MMVAF 2016 will be the first contact and I'm sure there will a lot of feral humans running around that day!" Birrell laughs. "One of the humanoids stands nearly 12 metres tall, so higher than a street light. I'm guessing you'll see it from a lot of the mountains surrounding Maroochydore, especially at night."

Other celestial beings touching down include an incredibly diverse array of artists from Peking Duk, Matt Corby, Allday, George Maple, Client Liaison, City Calm Down, Ngaiire, Boo Seeka, Bad//Dreems, Vera Blue and Pop Cult, to a bundle of emerging Brissy talent. Among the newcomers is Inigo, who you can spot at the Champagne & Oysters Garden. "I am so stoked at the Brisbane/SEQ music scene right now. There are so many supportive musicians and people in the industry that all have each other's backs, and I think that's a big contributing factor as to what makes [the Brisbane music scene] so great. Although we're all making different music — versatility, yes! — it's so great to get out and support one another," Fitzsimon says. "I am so chuffed that MMVAF have invited us back to play another year at Champagne & Oyster Garden. It's a great platform for getting your music heard at festivals as an emerging artist, and to be included on a bill with such great artists really makes you warm and fuzzy." Balancing big names with up-and-comers has been taken into consideration and Fitzsimon enthuses, "MMVAF have the 'no clashes' thing sorted, so Champagne & Oyster stage plays while the main stage is being re-set".

Scratching your head over what Champagne & Oyster Garden is doing bang smack in the middle of music festival rabble? Abroms explains: "Champagne & Oyster Garden is a magical place just out of earshot of the excitement on the main stage, where the more refined among us can indulge in a couple of life's delicacies while being serenaded by some supremely cool sounds." Ooh la la! "It's likely the only place you can have a glass of champers and a freshly shucked oyster while you chuck a mosh to Bad//Dreems," he winks. Well, at least it's not overly wanky — especially if we're downing "champers" and proceed to "chuck a mosh". It's fancy, Aussie style.

Parer and her celestial beings aren't the only visual art inclusions. Check out Bertie Blackman and MICANAUTS — stage artwork and group exhibition — Mic Black with the Wonder Games, Guz, Zoe Porter, Gimiks Born, Thom Stuart and Ochid providing live street art, Wayne McFetridge's Disk World and a lot more. And if last year is anything to go by, there's bound to be a bunch of weird and wacky stuff to spy as you wander around the lawns. "Last year there were house-sized inflatable bunnies, an art exhibition in a shipping container, trees wearing knitwear, a sandy bar in a golf bunker and too many beautiful, sequined, bejewelled and glittery people to count. I can't wait to see what this year brings," squeaks Abroms. Neither can we!