ENJOY HOT AUGUST NIGHTS AT DARWIN FESTIVAL

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There’s no better time to be in the tropical Top End than during Darwin Festival, where a fabulous festival wonderland awaits. Hot August nights under twinkling lights provide the perfect backdrop for an unforgettable dry season – known elsewhere in Australia as ‘winter’!

Tropical outdoor festivities combine with a program rich in local, national and international talent, including cabaret, theatre, dance, visual arts and outdoor concerts that transform Darwin for 18 dazzling days and nights.

The free Santos Opening Night Concert returns to the iconic Darwin Amphitheatre with Buried Country. Decades of forgotten Aboriginal country music will be uncovered in this special show featuring a stellar line-up. Come along and enjoy a free night of contemporary Indigenous music under the stars.

The creators of last year’s sell-out smash hit, BLANC de BLANC, return with LIMBO in The Aurora Spiegeltent. Hot on the heels of an international tour, LIMBO is set to sizzle as it whisks audiences into a sinister netherworld of gut-churning contortion, breath-taking acrobatics, jaw-dropping stunts and staggering illusions. Make a night of it by popping a cork at the onsite bar and grabbing some tasty Asian street food from Little Miss Korea. Don’t miss the show so hot, Madonna saw it twice…

The #dfest18 theatre program smashes down the fourth wall with adrenaline-pumping physical theatre. Prize Fighter is literally packed with punch – a thrilling high-energy production inspired by true events, guaranteed to fascinate sports and theatre fans alike, whilst Cockfight delivers a mashup of extreme physical risk-taking and slow-mo fight sequences in a power play between two blokes – in an office.

The giggles will come thick and fast with LOL-rousing ladies Urzila Carlson, Zoë Coombs Marr and Sharul Channa, as well as funny fellas Dave Thornton, Sam Simmons and Joel Creasey. Cabaret is well represented with Berlin’s Prince and Princess of Europop, Otto and Astrid – aka Die Rotten Punkte – surreal showgirl, obscene beauty queen and sex clown Betty Grumble, and a history lesson on a favourite tipple in Mother’s Ruin – A Cabaret About Gin. Yes, gin.

It’s been more than 20 years since Baz Luhrmann took a Shakespearean classic and made it an iconic 90’s film, complete with iconic an 90’s soundtrack. To celebrate, Darwin Festival is hosting the ultimate ‘one night only’ nostalgic ‘90s masquerade-ball-rock-show, Young Hearts Run Free. The Lighthouse will be alive to the sounds of Romeo + Juliet Soundtrack (Vol 1) performed live by local musicians and some top secret guest performers. Plus, Shania Twain fans rejoice – there’s a new choir in town. The Shania Choir are sure to impress you much with an evening of song, dance and drag!

Festival Park is the place to be on the social scene this August. Relax in the balmy festoon-lit surrounds every night of the week (except Mondays) with local celebrity chefs serving up food and drink from the iconic bamboo food stalls and pop-up bars, as you listen to the soundtrack of local heroes on the Rimfire Energy Bamboo Bandstand. Join in the fun of hot August nights and spend a tropical winter at Darwin Festival.

LIMBO
PHOTO Tony Virgo
WHEN: Preview Thu 9 Aug 7.30pm
Fri 10 & Sat 11 Aug 7pm & 9pm
Sun 12 Aug 7.30pm
Tue 14 – Sun 26 Aug
Tue – Thu & Sun 7.30pm, Fri & Sat 7pm & 9pm
WHERE: The Aurora Spiegeltent, The Esplanade
TICKETS: Premium $78 – Full $68 – Conc. $60
Friends $57.80 – Group 8+ $60 – Preview $55