Port Fairy’s iconic buildings will be lit up from this weekend to celebrate the annual Winter Weekends festival.
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The festival opens on Friday and Bathed in Light is one of many events to be held during the next seven weekends.
Residents and visitors are invited to visit the Reardon Theatre, Uniting Church, Drift House, Mill’s Cottage, Griffith’s Island, the Railway Shed and other locations after dark to see them in a completely new light.
The buildings will be bathed in light or projected with moving images by local and international artists.
The public is invited to explore the night, learn about old and new sites, take photos and share them with the hashtags #pfww16 and #portfairy.
Committee member John Watkinson invited the community to attend the opening ceremony at the Fiddler’s Green on Friday at 5.45pm.
He said a stilt-walking fire-breather would lead a public walk to Railway Place where the Railway Shed light display would be turned on.
“We’ve got a cracking program,” Mr Watkinson said. “We’ve got a big bang opening weekend with lots of different activities and the same with the closing weekend.”
He said some of the other weekends were themed to include food and fashion events, as well as a range of other activities.
The festival has been expanded from two weekends in June and July to seven consecutive weekends this year, in a bid to attract visitors to Port Fairy during winter.
He said the Whalebone Gallery would continue the opening excitement from 6.30pm on Friday with its Backstory exhibition launch.
Narrawong’s Brett Jarrett’s work will be showcased in the Feathers & Fur exhibition at Seacombe House across the weekend from 10am to 4pm.
The opening of the popular Biblio-Art Competition will be held at Blarney Books & Art on Saturday at 6pm, where the winner of the $1500 grand prize will also be announced.
The competition invites artists to select a book from a wheelbarrow and use it as inspiration for an artwork. This year’s event features 65 works (whittled down from 127 entries) from across Australia.
Another highlight will be the Welsh Male Choir at St John’s Anglican Church on Saturday night, which boasts more than 60 members.
Pet owners and their canines will gather for The Dog’s Breakfast on the Fiddler’s Green at 9.30am on Sunday, prior to the unique Daschund Dash at Southcombe Park at 11am.
The All Abilities Football and Wheeltalk Basketball Celebrity Challenge will be held at Southcombe Park on Sunday from 12pm to 3pm.
The weekend also includes film screenings, lighthouse tours, a community bike ride and a childrens fishing clinic. A Winter Wonderland market will be held at Port Fairy Consolidated School on Sunday from 4pm.
Port Fairy performers Oriel Glennen, Sheree Duncan, Arty Hoey, Gavin Franklin, Steve Maher and Emily Matskows will feature in the And Now for Something Completely Different concert on Sunday night.
Some events are ticketed. For more information or to book go to the Port Fairy Visitor Information Centre or portfairywinterweekends.com.au
