Normally staged in May, the three-day Queenscliffe Uniting Church (QUC) celebration of diversity – has been pushed back to avoid missing a second straight year.
This year’s theme is ‘Delving deep into diversity.'
“We are excited about the unique and unfolding line up of musicians, story tellers and poets. Many of our booked artists for the [cancelled] 2020 festival are available for the 2021 dates, but there are some new surprises as well,” said spokesperson and QUC Reverend Kerrie Lingham.
Upwards of 30 presenters, artists and performers come from a range of backgrounds, including indigenous, refugee and LGBTIQ.
The initial line up includes award winning writer, speaker and educator Joel McKerrow, regarded as one of Australia’s most successful performance poets.
Victoria’s Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Ro Allen and CSIRO Chief Research Scientist and internationally recognised climate change expert David Karoly will be among keynote speakers.
Others include Somalian-born refugee and multilingual writer Awale Ahmed, Indigenous musician Scott Darlow, environmental campaigner Claire Dunn, Australia’s leading klezmer violinist Ernie Gruner and leading refugee advocate Jeanine Hourani.
“Sacrededge is our response to a sometimes harsh and fearful world. It is an opportunity to connect with people from diverse backgrounds,” said Rev Lingham. “Rather than debate and argue about issues Q&A style, this unique festival listens to people from the edge… their stories, music, poetry.
“Our presenters, artists & performers come from a range of backgrounds – Indigenous, Refugee, LGBTIQ folk, Carers for the Earth and Ocean. They are the voices from the edge who are vulnerable and not normally heard,” said Rev. Lingham.
Sacrededge will run from September 3-5. Booking details can be found online
.