News

Want to host your own event as part of OUTintheOPEN Festival Shepparton (1 – 4 Nov 2018)?

OUTintheOPEN is Shepparton’s festival celebrating pride & community diversity.

OUTintheOPEN was developed to address some of the inequalities faced by the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer (GLBTIQ) & allied communities and to build a more inclusive community in Greater Shepparton. EVERYONE is welcome to get involved!

OUTintheOPEN is a project led by Goulburn Valley Pride Inc. and is proudly supported by many other organisations and community groups.

The festival will consist of a health/well-being forum at La Trobe University and a CARNIVAL DAY on the first weekend in November at the Queens Gardens. Other events will be held during the weekend across the City of Greater Shepparton. This is where YOU come in!

We are looking for Community Groups, Organisations, Performers, Venues, Events & Artists…

How to get involved…

Please complete the expression of interest form – feel free to make contact with us first to discuss an event or idea. We look forward to hearing from you!

Please submit your proposal via email (details below) along with a preferred image (high res.) for marketing purposes on our website. Additional background information is welcome.

For more info contact Damien Stevens on 0418 511 562 or enquiries@outintheopen.org.au

Is OUTintheOPEN Festival looking for YOU?

This year our Festival team is looking for enthusiastic people to join our us for the 1st – 4th November OUTintheOPEN Festival weekend.

The following positions will join our Festival Team:

• Secretary (1)
• Fundraising & Promotions Coordinator (1)
• Festival Volunteers (20)

Please contact us for a ‘position description’ and ‘expression of interest’ form – we look forward to hearing from you!

Find us on Facebook @ facebook.com/OUTintheOPENFestival

EARLY-BIRD stallholder applications for CARNIVAL DAY are NOW OPEN! Early-bird closes 30 June.

CARNIVAL DAY is Sat 3 Nov 2018, to be held in Queens Gardens (cnr. Wyndham & Nixon Streets, Shepparton) – download, complete and return your registration form with payment NOW to secure your site!

On behalf of all of us involved with OUTintheOPEN 2017, we would like to say a HUGE thank-you to everyone who attended, volunteered and supported the event this year!

We look forward to seeing you all again next year!!!!!

Click here to check out our amazing line-up of events for 2017 thus far!

GET YOUR FESTIVAL PASS HERE | Your $60 Festival pass gives you access to Friday night’s Comedy Show, Saturday night’s Glamour Party & Sunday morning’s BIG Community Brunch! WOW! | BUY FESTIVAL PASS

There’s something for everyone at this year’s OUT in the OPEN Festival Shepparton! With 13 events over 3 and a half huge days, visitors and locals alike have countless opportunities to celebrate community diversity in ALL it’s forms across the City of Greater Shepparton! Festival Director, Damien Stevens, says…

“CARNIVAL DAY on Sat 5 November is our signature event – returning to Queens Gardens this year with over 60 market stalls, food vendors, live entertainers, fun attractions, and a live ONE FM radio broadcast, this family-friendly event makes a great, FREE day out for everyone – petting zoo and jumping castle included! Entertainment will showcase crowd favourites: shOUT Youth Chorus, Rosie Burgess Trio, Tree Of Strings, Jessica Lorraine, Jeffry’s Cabbage, Tyler De Jong Trio, Past Present, The Delirious and Lola’s Pole School, with your fabulous local emcee, Rhubarb Rouge. What a line-up! Crepes, coffee, hotdogs, baked potatoes, curries, pancakes, snags and burgers too (thanks to the local Lions Club!) – you won’t go hungry! BYO blanket/chair – strictly drug/alcohol free event, no glass.

“OUT in the OPEN kicks off on Thursday night 3 November with The Gathering at Noble Monks – great live music, superb food – a fun, warm welcome to Shepparton’s pride and diversity Festival. Friday 4 November offers two healthcare sector events – a Trans & Gender Diverse Youth Inclusive Practice Training and THRIVE: Connecting ATSI & CALD LGQTI Communities – both at La Trobe Uni., proud supporters of our diverse “rainbow” community.

“Get up close and personal with Victoria’s first Gender & Sexuality Commissioner, Ro Allen, at a special two-course dinner celebrating the LGBTI community and allies at 6.30pm at Peppermill Inn including a fun & informal Q&A (and maybe an impromptu performance!). This will be a sell-out event – only 80 tickets available! Stay for Kaye Sera’s Cabaret Bizarre from 9.00pm – a one woman show about lust, life, legs & love – and everything in-between!

“CARNIVAL DAY not your thing? Check out Greater Shepparton’s rainbow-flag covered CBD for great restaurants, awesome shopping, and other attractions on offer in the region – the Visitor Info Centre has got you covered. Or, have a Lazy Lunch with the VicBears at The Aussie Hotel at 1pm, or pop on down to the Pop-Up Club at The Deck between 4-8pm – grab a bite and a beverage amid some terrific tunes and surprise treats before Shepparton’s biggest GLAMOUR PARTY in Jack’s Bar at The Aussie from 8pm. A night of frivolity and debauchery, drag shows throughout the evening will feature Racquell Williams, Tia Maria and Drags Aloud’s fabulous Amanda Monroe & Jessica James! Amy Newtown Dance Studios serving cabaret realness, a topless male dancer, and a whole lot more!

“Wake to a beautiful Earth Meditation Sunday morning 6 November in Queens Gardens from 9.30am sharp, before a scrumptious BIG Community Brunch at Lemon Tree Café on Fryers Street at 11am hosted by Goulburn Valley Pride. Relax for the afternoon as local choir 36 Degrees South & visiting group Low Rez Melbourne host Chorale Collaboration at Wesley Church from 2pm – an hour-long recital complimented by a delicious afternoon tea of home-made slices & cakes! And finally, support Equal Love Greater Shepparton’s film screening of The Queen of Ireland at Village Cinema at 4pm – a doco that follows drag queen Panti Bliss: an accidental activist and in her own words ‘a court jester, whose role is to say the un-sayable’. Her fight for equality and against homophobia has become recognised across the world. What a way to finish off YOUR OUT in the OPEN Festival Shepparton weekend!

“This year we’ve introduced a $50 Festival Pass – enjoy access to Friday night’s Cabaret, Saturday night’s Party and Sunday morning’s brunch, all for only $50! But be quick – there’s only 50 of these little diamonds & they’re selling like hotcakes! Need accommodation? Our partners, Quest Shepparton & Tudor House Motor Inn, have it all sorted for you – visit www.outintheopen.org.au for more info. OUT in the OPEN Festival Shepparton is so proud to be turning five, and values/appreciates so much your support & commitment to being inclusive & celebrating diversity.

“Join us – be part of Greater Shepparton’s newest Festival celebrating community diversity this November 3 – 6!”

Visit www.outintheopen.org.au for more information and tickets to all of the OUT in the OPEN Festival events or contact Festival Director, Damien Stevens on 0418 511 562 or via enquiries@outintheopen.org.au.

Damien Stevens
Festival Director
OUT in the OPEN Festival Shepparton
+61418511562
https://www.facebook.com/OUTintheOPENFestival/
https://twitter.com/OUTin_theOPEN

Check out previous year’s Official Gig Guides – download your copies below.  Thanks for getting OUTintheOPEN with us!

2016                                                          2015

2012                                              2013                                                 2014