Harris Yarn – WOMADannandale – Star City stormtroopers
• An anonymous messenger called into Ciao to report the word on the street in Leichhardt that Norton Street Grocer has been bought out by Harris Farm, with the news kept intentionally quiet. Ciao can now confirm that Leichhardt’s Norton Street Grocer has been bought by Harris Farm though not what’s going on with the branch in Bondi Junction. A Good Food article in October speculated on whether the stores’ branding would be changed to match the Harris Farm shtick if they were sold… We’ll have to keep an eye out for the trademark ‘irregular fruit’ section.
• There is a hopeful glimmer in the distance that the Parramatta Road ‘precinct’ may actually become some sort of entertainment hub, as promised by Leichhardt Council when it voted for the ‘Off Broadway’ Live Music Precinct policy in August 2014. Last week Leichhardt Council signed a $50,000 deal with Sydney Fringe Festival to host the month-long entertainment festival in Annandale. The program will be focussed around the Annandale Hotel, which has never managed to return to the glory days it enjoyed under the Rules brothers’ ownership. Back then it was known as a live music institution that created the Next Big Things (Sticky Fingers and Jezebel’s musicians started as bartenders there). Those who associate Leichhardt Council’s noise regulations with the downfall of the the Annandale may see the Fringe proposal as a cynical move, but with the festival’s seven- year history and track record of presenting hundreds of independent artists, hopefully the deal is a sign of good things to come. We’ll take anything!
• Over 10,000 people have said they will be attending a lock-out law protest on Saturday, ‘storming’ the Star Casino. The organisers have stated that over one hundred performers will be playing at the event across 15 stages.
