Entertainment
10 August, 2025
Innovation in the spotlight
FROM genre-defying cabaret and contemporary street art to large-scale aerial projections, this year’s Cairns Festival will shine a spotlight on innovative local arts projects that have been supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF).
Five projects were given the backing to develop and perform, and include the Buenos Nachos Productions’ ‘Madame After Dark’, a subversive cabaret night of circus, burlesque and theatre to be held at Bulmba-ja arts centre.
“Madame After Dark is pure tropical subculture,” said co-director Nicci Reed-Bell. “It’s lush, defiant and rooted in the creative spirit of FNQ.
“RADF gave us the freedom to scale up, to take a backroom fever dream and turn it into a fully realised theatrical production.”
The show will run from Thursday, August 28 to Saturday, August 30.
Also featured is ‘An Aerial Story of Burdekin Wetlands’, a meditative projection by visual artist Shaz Spannenberg in collaboration with Polly Fenton and narrated by Bindal elder Eddie Smallwood.
Captured via helicopter and drone, the 15-minute moving image work reveals the shifting patterns of the Burdekin floodplains in recovery, offering a rarely seen bird’s-eye view of Country.
It will screen from August 29 to September 7 at the Mulgrave Gallery lawn.
At Crate59, the long-running arts collective will once again animate the fringe of Cairns Festival with ‘Reef City’, a bold collection of projections, sculpture, zines, fashion and installation works curated by Kevin Mayo.
With contributions from more than 15 local creatives, the exhibition celebrates the dual identity of Cairns as both tropical paradise and gritty regional city. The event also includes a live music showcase from September 3-6.
Also at Crate59, CouchPark will bring a free all-ages celebration of art and music to life on Wednesday, September 3 from 6-10pm.
Produced by 66b/cell, the event features up-and-coming singer-songwriters Anais Campbell, Amber Farnan and Hannah May, dynamic taiko drumming by Drum Infinite Mugendai, an eclectic set by Hanzi Trismegistus with Michi Matsuda on Japanese flute, visuals by Tetsuya Tabata and sound by Nigel Pegrum, who will also mentor Redlynch State College’s next-gen tech crew.
Adding a playful, intergenerational twist to the festival program is ‘Let’s Organise Your Leisure! (LOYL!)’, created by Brisbane-based artist Dr Kathy Mackey.
The event invites over-50s and their friends to join in a synchronised, pool-noodle-powered spectacle at the Cairns Lagoon on Sunday, August 31. It is equal parts movement workshop, soft sculpture performance and joyous flash mob.
Cairns Festival 2025 runs from August 29 to September 7.
The RADF is a long-running partnership between Cairns Regional Council and Arts Queensland designed to support local arts and culture in regional areas.
