YouAreHere, here at last!

Canberra puts up with a lot from its citizens – we’re dismissive, insulting and often ungrateful towards our city, and not always without good reason. This year, however, that’s all about to change – the first ever YouAreHere festival kicks off this week, bringing Canberra a whole host of exciting art, music and theatre events to liven up the city and show that there’s a lot more to the nation’s capital than necessarily meets the eye.

Taking place in Canberra’s CBD from March 10th – 20th, YouAreHere is part of the celebrations for Canberra’s 98th birthday, and is also part of the celebrations in the lead up to the Centenary of Canberra in 2013. Supported by Canberra CBD Ltd, the festival will be run out of unused shop fronts in the city area, and will combine a range of media and art forms to create an extravaganza of events to fascinate the masses.

Festival director, David Finnigan, has what appears to be an unquenchable thirst for creativity, and has a wealth of experience with independent arts events. Last year, Finnigan directed the Crack Theatre Festival as part of the This Is Not Art (TiNA) festival, held annually in Newcastle, which incorporated a range of performance and theatre styles, to create a series of events that were intriguing, at times confrontational, but always spectacular.

YouAreHere follows a similar structure to TiNA – the venues for events are scattered all over the city centre, and there is a strong focus on DIY and independent art. YouAreHere is not about high culture or any form of critical evaluation – it’s about developing art and engaging with other people to experience creative work in welcoming and exciting environments.

Kicking off with the party to end all parties, The Last Prom, tonight from 9-11pm, YouAreHere really does have something for everyone. There are gigs, theatre performances, art exhibitions, Roller Derby rallies, dance performances, the list goes on. Most events are run by local artists, and many have an interactive elements that bridge the gap between performer and audience.

Best of all, each event showcases the skills of local artists, and reminds festival-goers of the hidden talents of Canberra – we might be the natural home of squares, suits and seniors, but some of those squares, suits and seniors are pretty freaking rad.
Check out the full program here, and remember to check back for Lip reviews of all the cool happenings.