Mulled cider. Delicious noms. Comedy. Music. Performances. It must be Bondi Feast season again. Sydney’s fastest-growing winter festival is back, and it promises to be bigger and better than ever.
Once again, the Feast is getting all warm and snuggly in the iconic Bondi Pavilion, and it promises to blast our eyeballs with over 100 artists and 50 performances across its 11-night run. You might as well pitch a tent, folks, because it doesn’t sound like there will be much point in leaving. We catch up with festival coordinator Rachel Chant to get the scoop on this year’s Bondi Feast – starting with the bar, which has been transformed into an ’80s-style rumpus room where people can hang out.
“This year our designer is kind of rolling with this interactive vintage board games theme,” says Chant. “The first thing she said to me was, ‘A murder mystery meets mulled wine,’ which kind of sounds like the perfect combination.
“The main thing we’ve wanted that space upstairs to be for the last couple of years is somewhere that’s fun. We wanted to bring it alive and make the festival bar stand out as part of the festival as well. It’s not just where you can come and get drinks, it’s the heart of the festival itself.”
Board games have been making a huge comeback in recent years, and from the sounds of things, the vintage favourites Bondi Feast will have on offer this time around will stir the moustaches of the most devoted hipsters.
“I was given a list of all the games I had to source and I’m genuinely excited about them. We have a big Snakes and Ladders, a huge dominoes set, a giant Jenga, Cluedo, and a colouring corner as well,” Chant says.
But onto one of the most important aspects of the festivities: the booze.
“We have the Batlow Cider Co. guys back again this year doing their mulled cider, so they’ll pop up in one of the corners of the bar. There’s something about mulled cider that makes me think that it’s healthy and good for me, because it’s hot, spicy and fruity,” laughs Chant.
Bondi Feast is known for bringing a myriad of different art forms and performances together every night, so attendees have the opportunity to discover something new and awesome.
“Looking at the schedule, you can see music, comedy, a performance lecture and then an exhibition happening downstairs – and that’s just on one night in the first week,” says Chant. “The pavilion isn’t that big in terms of putting six pop-up theatre spaces within it. So you have all of these different artists from tiny parts of the same sector coming together, which is great. To be able to have a taste of that as an audience member is pretty amazing.”
Those who attended last year may remember Shannon Dooley’s Retrosweat – a completely sold-out homage to ’80s aerobics. It’s back once again, so after inhaling all that delicious festival food, punters can get ready to start pumping the Pat Benatar.
“Last year everyone came dressed in their best ’80s gear; think G-strings and leotards over bright purple leggings, crimped hair, bright headbands and leg warmers,” says Chant. “People really get into it because it’s just so fun.”
Bondi Feast 2015 takes place at Bondi Pavilion, Saturday July 11 – Saturday July 25.
