One word. Fringe!

In case you’d missed it, the Wynnum Fringe Festival is now on. With 59 different shows, acts, events and everything in between running from now (well technically from yesterday) until Sunday 4th December there literally will be something for everyone!

This year is the first year that the hub of the festival will be down on the waterfront in George Clayton Park (or Lighthouse Park if you prefer) which is where the ‘Wynnum Fringe Garden’ and the main venues are – the Raine & Horne Wynnum Spiegeltent, and ‘The Vault’ plus a ferris wheel, a bar and food trucks. There is also a First Nations zone and – of course – the box office where you can get your tickets on the spot.

The Festival will not be limited to the waterfront though, with a number of venues in or near Wynnum Central – the Bayside Music Hall (the temporarily renamed Waterloo Bay Leisure Centre – which is a great venue) on Tingal Road across from Bartons, and additional shows at Cedar & Pine bar, Frenchies Cafe and ‘The Shed’ behind Cultivate Design Co., all on Bay Terrace.

Founder and organiser Tom Oliver and his crew are expecting anything up to 35,000 people to come to Fringe over the next few weeks.

Earlier today WynnumCentral was treated to sneak peek of what you can expect, with both the headline act – Marcia Hines in the hit Velvet Rewired and runaway success at the Adelaide Fringe this year – Godz – both putting on amazing ‘tasters’ of their shows.

Joining Marcia Hines and Godz during the festival will be comedians Dave Hughes, Akmal and Cal Wilson, and a ton of up-and-comers who – when they’re famous – you’ll be able to say ‘I saw them at Wynnum Fringe first!’

There’s really too much going on to list here, so your best bet is to jump straight on the Fringe website…

https://wynnumfringe.com/

…and check it all out for yourself.

The official opening ceremony is in fact tomorrow (Fri 18) from 6pm at Pandanus Beach. Called ‘Yana Marumba’ (which means ‘walk good’), from 6pm at Pandanus Beach, at sunset a Quandamooka delegation will lead everyone, with this year’s special addition of Janggaburru, a giant elder puppet (from street theatre team Memetica) who will join the walk to the Wynnum Fringe Garden. Here’s the schedule…

5:30pm Gather at Pandanus Beach
6:00pm Acknowledgement of Country with Uncle Earl Morgan and Tribal Experiences Corroboree Dancers
6:20pm Walk along the Esplanade with Janggaburru
6:40pm Arrive at the Wynnum Fringe Garden for official opening of Wynnum Fringe 2022, with First Nations Advisor Cameron Costello and Festival Director Tom Oliver.
7pm Conclude and enjoy the Wynnum Fringe Garden

And finally… we have it on good authority that ABC Radio Brisbane will be broadcasting their morning show from The Whale Park at the waterfront from 5am-8am tomorrow, so if you’re around pop down and say hi!

See also Marcia Hines to headline 2022 Wynnum Fringe