InReview InReview

SA QLD
Support independent journalism

InReview

Change is the word in new festival

InReview

Comments
Comments Print article

When Word Adelaide event manager Brian Gilbertson steps on to his soapbox he wants to tell the world to embrace change.

“I would talk about the power of change – never be afraid to embrace change because change invites growth and new experiences, but sometimes people are too afraid to investigate change and see what’s around the bend,” Gilbertson says.

This Friday night and Saturday others will have the chance to stand on their soapbox as part of the inaugural festival.

“We want people to get out and speak their minds rather than say it on social media,” he said.

“There are a lot of people that make comments behind the scenes, but historically the soapbox was a favoured way of political debate and making social comments.”

Gilbertson’s stand is based on his decision earlier in life to give up a legal career and become an opera singer in Vienna.

Spots for Friday night have almost booked out, with a class of high school students taking the opportunity to say their piece.

The festival has been designed to embrace the different ways words are used and how they influence people’s lives.

Word Adelaide has received mixed response, despite blanket publicity, forced to move its flagship act In Their Own Words with Little Britain star Matt Lucas from the Entertainment Centre arena to the smaller Her Majesty’s Theatre.

“Ticket sales are going strong took a while to get moving, with the event going out in the community not so long ago, we are happy with how that is progressing,” Gilbertson said.

He said that in the new venue, there were only about 100 tickets left for In Their Own Words. The poetry competition at the State Library had sold out, while he was also pleased with how other ticketed events were selling.

The festival opens tomorrow, with a traditional Australian yarn spinning contest hosted by Kitty Flanagan.

“That’s a great way to open; it’s very Australian.”

There will be four guest yarn spinners and four in the competition, including InDaily’s business and sports editor Kevin Naughton who is a two-time winner of the Darwin World Yarn Spinning competition.

Competitors will have just one chance to spin their yarn with the winner taking home a $1000 prize.

Other events include the reading of previously un-heard war correspondence in The Red Cross Letters, which is being produced by the State Theatre Company and State Library.

There is also the unique experience of travelling around Adelaide with local Indigenous storytellers exploring the existing Kaurna language.

Musicians including Leo Sayer, Guy Pratt and The Audrey’s Taasha Coates, will also meet on stage for a “backstage” style conversation about their work, followed by an unplugged session.

Word Adelaide begins tomorrow with tickets available here.

 

Make a comment View comment guidelines

Support local arts journalism

Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.

Donate Here

Comments

Show comments Hide comments
Will my comment be published? Read the guidelines.

. You are free to republish the text and graphics contained in this article online and in print, on the condition that you follow our republishing guidelines.

You must attribute the author and note prominently that the article was originally published by InReview.  You must also inlude a link to InReview. Please note that images are not generally included in this creative commons licence as in most cases we are not the copyright owner. However, if the image has an InReview photographer credit or is marked as “supplied”, you are free to republish it with the appropriate credits.

We recommend you set the canonical link of this content to https://inreview.com.au/inreview/2013/08/14/change-is-the-word-in-new-festival/ to insure that your SEO is not penalised.

Copied to Clipboard

More InReview stories

Loading next article