WinterWild Festival: Victoria's answer to Dark Mofo
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WinterWild Festival: Victoria's answer to Dark Mofo

Far from your average festival, WinterWild is the festival embracing winter head on. Held over two weekends with two different themes, Death (August 10-12) and Birth (August 24-26), WinterWild is igniting Apollo Bay with flames, music and dance to welcome the winter solstice. We chat to festival director Roderick Poole ahead of the event.
Let’s talk about WinterWild Festival, the after-dark winter festival. What was the original idea behind bringing it to the coastal town – a town primarily marketed as a summer destination?
Apollo Bay was really knocked around by the aftermath of the 2015 Christmas Day bushfires. Wye River and Separation Creek were hardest hit and there were over a hundred homes lost, but in the wake of the fire, local businesses all along the Great Ocean Road had a major slump. Some great minds got together and thought of ideas to turn this around and one thought was to hold a winter festival. This idea caught on, and a certain local rebellious streak came into play. Why don’t we base this festival around fire? Let’s fight fire with fire! Locals gathered, got excited and so began an energetic rush to light a fire.
This year WinterWild sees two themes this August – Death and Birth. Can you give us an overview of what this means?
What do Birth and Death mean? Everything! Every day we’re faced with the possibility of Birth and wouldn’t be here without Death. Or is it the other way around? The festival is about all things elemental and primal. When it comes down to it, nothing is quite as primal as Death and Birth. Perhaps they’re not talked about over the water cooler every day, but they’re always lurking there under the surface. This festival is all about peeling back this surface and seeing what lurks below; it might not always be pretty, but it will certainly shake things up.
How do you go about programming the festival? What are you looking for when deciding on the events?
The first stage of programming I call the Kid in the Lolly Shop phase. This is where you dream big and want to grab what might turn out to be the unobtainable. That’s where Tropical Fuck Storm fits. We dreamt of having Gareth Liddiard here last year, but then he went and formed a new band especially to fit with our latest WinterWild themes. That’s what I call a headline – they’re the best Australian band going around a the moment. No question. The second and subsequent phases are all about digging around in the strange dark corners of our culture and talking endlessly and dreaming and making unlikely connections. There are disappointments, near misses, unlikely detours and uplifting triumphs. Then suddenly, one day, you see a festival program growing out of the ether. Call that an unreliable guide to festival programming, if you like.
Back for its second instalment, what did you take away from last year that you’ve applied to this years festival?
The most obvious thing we learnt was that people got it. They embraced the themes and had a hunger for adventure and for a walk on the wild side. I’ve been involved in performance for more years than I care to admit, and I’ve always found that Australian audiences love to get their dose of arts in unusual places. A long time ago, I made the decision to give up trying to harass audiences into theatres and took my performances outdoors. I’ve never looked back. Australians don’t always feel comfortable in theatres and traditional venues. Take them outside or into an unusual location and they open up and are far more willing to take on new ideas and risky ventures. Acting on this, the festival has at its centre an early evening outdoor program that is free, in a public place and involves lots of fire. Who wouldn’t go for that?
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You’ve travelled the world as a street theatre artist; and a lot more music festivals are now incorporating arts elements into their programs. What importance do you place on festivals like WinterWild (and the likes of Dark Mofo) that celebrate various art forms?
My work as a street performer took me to several hundred festivals all over the world. Some were held in large cities, others in small towns. I learnt a lot about what makes a festival work. First and foremost, a festival has to be true to its place and the people and history of that place. Secondly it has to have a strong theme or character that holds the program together and offers audiences an immersive, multi-levelled experience. In a way, it’s an easy option to concentrate on one artform. But this doesn’t ring my personal bell. I want a festival to throw everything at me from all sorts of different directions, and I hope that’s what we’re doing with WinterWild. We want to shake people up, surprise them and send them away with memories and images that keep coming back to haunt them and tease them for years to come. For me, that’s what art is all about.
Being from the local, regional area yourself, what importance do you see in having festivals of this scale in a regional town like Apollo Bay?
As soon as we finished the opening performance down on the foreshore for the festival last year, I felt something in the town change. Locals were surprised by the event – surprised and uplifted. This led to a sense of pride. Apollo Bay was the small town that roared. From here on, the locals have buzzed with anticipation about what would come next. This buzz is infectious and has given a lift to the community in all sorts of positive ways. That’s got to be a good thing, surely?
We know it’s always a tricky question, but the highlights/events that are a MUST see?
I knew you’d ask that. These events are my children, and you’re asking me to name a favourite! I’d encourage everyone to get down to the foreshore and see the DogWatch program. Each evening of the festival sees the huge brazier on the foreshore lit, along with a performance event created by local artists. The Sacrifice is the one taking place on the first Saturday and it will be awesome. It takes the form of a procession leading to a sacrifice and a confrontation with Death. We’re not dealing with small beer here, it’s all about the big themes! And if I’m allowed one more, I’d say Feastiality. It combines my three passions of food, performance and the great outdoors in a way that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
Thanks so much for taking the time to chat, it looks like it’s going to be a fun festival! Any last words?
I encourage people people to leap into the water. It might be jarringly cold, dark and unruly, but you’ll eventually emerge and wonder why you ever hesitated in the first place. Don’t look away, make the leap! Laugh at Death.
Winter Wild runs between August 10 – 12 and August 24 – 26. Visit winterwild.com.au for more information.