Open Inner West is a Council program which provides grants to the community to participate in the 10 day festival which celebrates culture and diversity in the Inner West through storytelling, music, dance, film, art, theatre, food and workshops. The Inner West has strong links with Greek, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Italian and Chinese communities as well as being home to the Gadigal-Wangal people.
Open Inner West 2019 takes place from 14-23 June with a diverse program of events, including:
- Biryani and Babez Dance, drag, song, performance and the sharing of supper
- Your Crown, Your Story Celebrating Newtown’s cultural fixture Fatou’s Hair Architects
- Culinary Tales Chefs teach traditional dishes and share experiences of their life and culture
- Polish Cultural Open Day A fun day of everything Polish
- Know Your Neighbour Taste food, enjoy performances and demonstrations
- Sing Welcome Come and sing songs with the Solidarity Choir
- Keeping Tradition Alive Learn traditional crocheting to make an Italian doily
- Ngalawa Weaving and cooking demonstrations followed by open mic performances
- Read To Me at Thirning Villa Immersive visual storytelling
- ASYIK for Kids Festival Celebrating Indonesian culture, traditional arts, food, music and dance
- Popping Outreach Street and traditional Indonesian dance performance
- New Beginnings Winter Festival Family-friendly festival celebrating Refugee Week 2019
- Tapestry Friendship Project Bringing locals and refugees together through tapestry
- 5th Balkan Bonanza A feast of culture from the cultural groups of the Balkans
- Pachamama Festival Bringing together Latin-American and Indigenous artists and their cultural connections to land and sky
- Rhythms, Colours, Flavours of Peru Live music, dance, food and culture
- Innov8tion Unique 8v8 dance crew format battling it out for $1,000 in prize money
Open Inner West Festival runs from 14 to 23 June at a variety of locations across the Inner West.
