WINTER solstice is fast approaching and so is Melville Midwinter, back again with firelit poetry, song, and dance under the stars in 2025.
Held on the shores of Dyoondalup Point Walter, this year’s Midwinter arts festival is a celebration of both the Noongar season of Makuru and the winter solstice, with each artist basing their performances on both location and season.
The chilly weather can often drive people “into hibernation”, according to Melville Midwinter co-curator James Berlyn, who says the “quiet stillness” of the solstice season is a time to celebrate through art and performance.
“We often get into a winter routine, and the weather tends to make us a little more introspective, but in a survival mode rather than a creative mode… everyone’s flat out busy, and dealing with the weather is just another thing on people’s lists,” Mr Berlyn says.
“To take time to stop and explore how other people are moving through winter, in a beautiful environment, is a really fantastic opportunity to come together and feel a sense of community space, to breath, and acknowledge that we’re living rather than just surviving.”
The “immersive” festival is designed so the audience can promenade between each performance, with warm treats such as mulled wine, soup, and marshmallows to warm each attendees’ bones.
• Melville Midwinter is back at Dyoondalup Point Walter.
The Midwinter lineup will include quartet Kangaroos with Machine Guns, artist Derek Nannup, and playwright Sam Nerida.
A shadow puppetry performance telling the Dreamtime Story of the Pelican and the Heron will be on display using an old-school overhead projector, with puppets and artwork developed with Willagee kids by local artists Rickeeta and Allen Walley.
“It’s a very organic way of working with the kids, because a lot of it is just playing and having fun and being creative, and passively learning along the way, hearing Noongar words and learning about some of these special animals,” Ms Walley said.
“The purpose of the workshops is to tell these stories, have a play with the shadow puppets, and then we ask them to help make some of the characters we need for the story, so the final piece will be a mix of professional artists’ puppets and the children’s art.
“They also know it’s going to be a part of a big performance that lots of people will see, so they’re really excited.”
Cellist Mel Robinson, pianist Iain Grandage, David Richardson, and vocalist Kat Shaw will also feature.
At the end of the evening, “intrepid and brave” attendees will have the opportunity to jump off the Point Walter jetty for a bracing midwinter swim.
“Being winter, there are less things on, but that doesn’t mean the process of making and celebrating art has to hibernate,” Mr Berlyn said.
Melville Midwinter will descend on Dyoondalup Point Walter on Saturday, June 21, at 5pm. The event is free.
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER