Prepare for the best Festival line up yet

Queen's Birthday Weekend - 8 - 11 June 2012

We're so pleased you have visited our website - and we're looking foward to seeing you in Woodend for this year's 8th Woodend Winter Arts Festival    

We seriously considered just listing the names of all our presenters, artists and perfomers and dispensing with the narrative this year - but here goes...  

This year, our opening night dinner feature names synonymous with the best of jazz and great food at an historic venue. 'Flavours of Jazz' with Paul Grabowsky on piano, with Julien Wilson on sax, will be held at Braemar’s Jackson Hall with dinner prepared and presented under the careful direction of Damian Sandercock of the Piper Street Food Co.  

As always, the wekend program is filled with the very best of classical music by composers Schubert, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Mozart and Haydn. There will be a very special performance of Scarlatti and Handel in Cantatas of the Arcadian Academy will include the inimitable talents of Max Gillies opposite Barry Jones.  

The Australian musical contingent will include the return of composer and pianist Ian Munro, guitar virtuoso, Slava Grigoryan, rising stars of Australian classical music, Ensemble Gombert, Accademia Arcadia and Tinalley String Quartet with award-winning cellist Josephine Vains.

International artists selected for this year’s program include the Osmosis Wind Quartet (The Hague) and the Italian Davide Monti, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Accademia Arcadia.

The literary program includes comic and graphic artist Bernard Caleo, the inimitable Kerry Greenwood (creator of Phrynne Fisher, now on ABC1) and two panel events. One centred around the migrant story featuring authors Arnold Zable, Alice Pung and Andreas Litras; the other examining the idea of the ‘Australian Dream’ with George Megalogenis, Jeff Sparrow and Lindsay Tanner.

The packed literary and arts program features comic and freelance artists, yarns at the pub, one of the last public showings of exhibitions from the Dromkeen Collection, Macedon Ranges Potters and the Mt Macedon Artists, a schools program and free events for children.

Opening night fireworks Fireworks will kick off the Festival again this year - bigger and better than ever. This year food stalls and free entertainment have been added into the mix. So rug up and arrive early: Buffalo Stadium Oval 5.30pm on Friday 8 June (6.30pm start).

The 2012 Festival is proudly brought to you, and Woodend, by the following sponsors.