The full Spectrum Now festival lineup is legitimately quite overwhelming, so take a quick gander at our following rundown of highlights and standout acts.

Spectrum Now Festival has just unveiled its full music, arts, theatre and comedy lineup, a massive string of events that has been designed to suit a staggering variety of tastes. Each of these four sections is represented by its own ambassador, with popsmith Megan Washington handling music, acclaimed two-time Archibald winner Del Kathryn Barton taking the visual arts reigns, entertainer David Campbell presiding over the theatre side of things, and Charlie Pickering adding his insight to the comedy and talks arm of the event.

Arguably the highlight of the festival’s musical program is Divine Times, a one-day festival to be held at The Big Top in Sydney’s Domain. The festival’s ‘headliners’ are cult darlings The Jesus and Mary Chain, but to be honest even the lowest artist placed on the bill, Jonathan Boulet, is a significant and exciting songsmith in his own right. Divine Times will take place on Saturday March 5.

Aside from its Divine Times artists, Spectrum Now is also hosting one-off gigs from the oddly? punctuated face-melters Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Springsteen-esque cathartic rockers Calexico. Godspeed You! play the Big Top on Tuesday March 8, while Calexico hit the same venue on Sunday March 6.

In terms of the visual arts program, modern art skeptics who enjoy being provoked should head along to Is This Art?, a diverse showcase of rising stars and their controversial works, to be held at GOOD Times Gallery in Chippendale on Thursday March 10. But if you like your culture a little more palatable and a little less renegade, you can either head along to An(other) Evening With Ken Done at the Ken Done Gallery on Wednesday March 9 or The SMH Portraiture Exhibition taking place at Westfield in Parramatta, Miranda and Chatswood, running from Tuesday March 1 to Wednesday March 16.

Perhaps the most unusual event to be hosted on the theatrical side of things is Huang Yi And Kuka, a mash-up of dance, theatre and technology that will take place on Wednesday March 16 at the Seymour Centre and will see renowned choreographer Huang Yi dancing with his pet robot, Kuka, an experience that Yi describes as “looking at my own face in a mirror”. But again, if you prefer to observe the cutting edge from a safer distance, you would do well to head along to Bell Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday March 3, or Broadway Unplugged at the Vanguard on Monday March 14.

The absolute, undeniable highlight of the talks program – for this writer, at least – is the appearance of modern master Etgar Keret at a yet undisclosed Bondi venue on Wednesday March 2. Keret’s short stories are amongst the very finest of the past half-century, and his recent memoir, The Seven Good Years, is a deeply moving, unique tale unlike many others. Get excited. On the other side of the spectrum – geddit? – entirely, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace will host a screening of the gobsmackingly horribleThe Room, a film that must be seen in order to be fully believed. They’ll be handing out free plastic spoons at the door (you’ll get it when you see the movie).

All the above listed highlights are only very small taste of what is to come, so those interested should peruse the entire mammoth lineup. The festival is sure to be a very significant event on Sydney’s cultural calendar, and a much-needed breath of fresh air into an arts world that has been hit hard by – say it with me now – our draconian lockout laws.

Spectrum Now Festival 2016 will run around Sydney from Tuesday March 1 till Wednesday March 16. More information is available on the festival website, here.

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