Yours & Owls Festival 2023 Announce Metropolis Locale Program
It’s no secret anymore that Wollongong has evolved into a hotbed of artistic talent! Since its inception in 2017, Metropolis Locale has been shining a spotlight on local creatives working in and around the Wollongong area.
Metropolis Locale offers festival goers a dedicated space to participate in workshops, view installations and performances, and provides opportunities to engage with local innovators and community advocates.
It is a lovingly curated space to slow down, explore, engage, and be inspired by those groups who sit at the centre of the creative network of the Gong.
“Yours and Owls has never been just about music”, explains promoter Ben Tillman. “We have always strived for the festival to reflect what’s going on creatively in Wollongong and do our best to showcase the local creatives who do great things year after year. As Wollongong has grown and progressed, so has the Locale. What started as a space for emerging artists now welcomes those who have formalised their passions into thriving businesses. Metropolis Locale aims to showcase and celebrate our local talent in the hope that it encourages and inspires more creative growth and evolution year after year.”
2023 welcomes the likes of;
130ARTStudios, Clay Wollongong, The Dirty Mugs, Eloise Cleary , The Grey Space with Brenden Newton, Hidden Harvest, Katella Kreative, Make Space, Harold Barrientos, Make Space Art Collective, Squash Bug, Tegan Georgette, The Disability Trust, Toby Lansdown, Wollongong Press Association, Wanderer Magazine, Wollongong Comedy, Yakka Records & Bottle-O and Zephyr Magazine.
Experience the creation of masterpieces in the flesh with artist Harold Barrientos who will be on-site painting a mural of a festival headliner. Activist artist Tegan Georgette will be painting a bright and powerful portrait of a confident, genderless figure to explore themes of vulnerability, power and gender roles.
Ever wanted to rest your legs and sink into a couch made of bread? Hidden Harvest are creating a chill-out space made 100% of salvaged, unwanted bread! Sink in and revel in that warm carb-laden hug!
Fancy a shag? The Dirty Mugs have got you covered! Get down to the official hair salon of Yours and Owls for a fresh cut and a little bit of you time. The only question is, what will it be? A mullet, a shag, or a bowl cut?
Want to get your hands dirty? 130ARTStudios two-sided interactive art-making installation Safe Haven provides an opportunity to create energetic freeform art with the group or sit quietly and undertake some calm, mindful colouring. Clay Wollongong’s clay building installation is where you can add your bit to the growth or demise of their free-standing clay sculpture. While Make Space Artist Collective will be presenting Just the Surface, an art exhibition and life drawing experience where festival goers can get up close and personal with the artistic process, see the art, make the art, and be the art.
Strap in for a wild ride of face-hurting hilarity with the Gong’s finest from Wollongong Comedy, who will be on-site to assist with endorphin releases the natural way via pure, unadulterated, calorie-burning laughter.
Eloise Cleary who has been working with local community members will premiere her installation artwork Talking With Ribbon that has upcycled thousands of old Yours & Owls Festival wristbands in a dazzling display! Multimedia artist Katella Kreative is premiering her new sculptural installation Blink, and You’ll Miss It, an ode to the wild beach rabbits that call the Illawarra coastline home.
Show up and experience the wonders of The Disability Trust’sSchool Leavers’ extraordinary Yours and Owls immersive gala! Strike a pose, and capture surreal, vibrant, and fun moments through our windows created by our volunteer artists’ for the perfect festival memory.
Looking for some cerebral stimulation? Come and watch Brenden Newton, Bodyboarder, all-round legend, and host of the popular podcast The Grey Space, interview an artist on the festival bill. Stay tuned for this one!
All you budding media moguls out there can watch and learn from Wollonongong Press Association’sanchorman Harry Phillips while he conducts interviews from their Metropolis Locale home base or take the lead and make your own excruciatingly hip zine under the guidance of the crew at Wanderer Magazine.
The team from Zephyr Magazine are working on a generative visual installation made by and for Wollongong’s creative community. Keep an eye out around Metropolis Locale for the big ply seats with markers attached and get doodling! Over the course of the festival, the chairs will build themselves into a one-of-a-kind artwork made of messages, tags, marks and colours from thousands of Wollongong’s finest artists (that’s you).
Or just head over to the Yakka Bar at Metropolis Locale for a wine-tasting experience or a charcuterie board and catch local DJ’s spinning vinyl.
Yours and Owls will take over the University of Wollongong campus for two days, igniting the UOW’s grounds, lush green ovals and hidden laneways to the sounds and sights of some of the world’s and Australia’s best talent. The University of Wollongong provides several all-weather solutions to ensure Yours and Owls is more robust against all possible weather conditions, so they will see you there, rain, hail, and hopefully shine!
Join this year’s line-up:
Bakar| Broods |Chet Faker
Descendents | Earl Sweatshirt
Golden Features | Hilltop Hoods
Hobo Johnson | Lil Tjay | Masego
Meg Mac | Ocean Alley | Oliver Tree | Peach Pit
Safia | Vera Blue Angel Du$t | Big Wett | Daily J | Dice | Ekkstacy | Fazerdaze
Forest Claudette | James Marriott | King Mala | Old Mervs
Pacific Avenue | Phony Ppl | Redhook | Royel Otis
RVG | Shag Rock | Sorry | Teen Jesus And The Jean Teasers
Teenage Dads | The Grogans | The Rions | The Terrys
The Vanns | Tia Gostelow | Wallice
Babyface Mal | | Billy Otto | | Full Flower Moon Band
Girl And Girl | Go-Jo | Lazywax | | Phoebe Go | Possehot
Rum Jungle | Stevan | Stumps | These New South Whales | Towns | YB| Wiigz
Plus More!!Das Shmelthaus Line Up
Object Blue B2B, TSVI, Cleo, Club Angel, DJ PGZ, Kornél Kovács, Lauren Hansom B2B Mike Who, Luca Lozano, Sam Alfred, Seb Wildblood, Skatebard, Tangela.
Stay The Night:
Wollongong and the surrounding areas offer a wide range of accommodation options to suit every budget; including camping which is located on Fairy Meadow beach at Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort head over to yoursandowlsfestival.com.au for details.
Tickets:
General On Sale Tickets 8 am AEST Thur June 29 via Moshtix
Ticket Note:
Moshtix is the only authorised ticket seller for Yours and Owls and all tickets must be purchased through Moshtix to be valid at the gate. Fans will be able to control their tickets via their Moshtix account which will include the ability to change the name on the ticket, resell their ticket (via private link), resend their tickets to themselves and access Moshtix Fan Experience.
Our Friends:
We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our partners for 2023: triple j, RISE Fund, University of Wollongong, Destination Wollongong, Young Henrys, Red Bull, Sailor Jerrys, Monkey Shoulder, Fellr, 100 Souls, Brookvale Union, Jose Cuervo and Archie Rose.
