Revelry by the Bay at the rejigged Wynnum Fringe
There’ll be romance, cabaret, circus acts and big-name performers – all in the intimate setting of a spiegeltent. What’s not to love about this year’s wintertime Wynnum Fringe.
The Wynnum Fringe is back for its sixth outing – and its first as a winter festival held in July.
Under the Augathella Spiegieltent on Wynnum’s Bay Terrace, this year’s Fringe will deliver popular performers – from Rhonda Burchmore to Tex Perkins, Wil Anderson to Mirusia Louwerse – along with a range of captivating cabaret and circus acts.
Rounding out the diverse cultural offerings is Shake & Stir’s production of Romeo and Juliet, with the Shakespeare classic performed amid the audience in the spiegeltent.
What started as a low-key gathering to give artists an outlet during COVID has now grown into a fully formed festival looking ahead to the 2032 Olympics.
Wynnum Fringe founder, CEO and artistic director Tom Oliver says the festival’s rescheduling from November to July is all part of its evolution.
“After you do a few festivals, you learn that November in Brisbane is actually a really bad time for anything outdoors,” explains Oliver.
“I was driving home thinking about growing up in Brisbane and playing cricket in summer and rugby in winter, and how I’ve travelled the world and gone to London where it’s so cold. I feel like there should be a culture built around the colder months in Brisbane … because it should be when we have a bustling art scene. We should be going indoors and celebrating those colder months with our amazing artists.”
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Oliver says Wynnum Fringe held in July is an exciting opportunity for Brisbane’s Bayside.
The coincidences that led to the discovery of the Augathella Spiegeltent and it becoming a crucial part of Wynnum Fringe is now a festival legend.
The shearing shed-inspired spiegeltent or “mirror tent” was created in 2009 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Queensland’s separation from NSW. After those celebrations the spiegeltent sat unloved for many years.
“After a few storms it just got unsafe and too hard and the town didn’t have the money to keep it going,” explains Oliver. “So they put a lock on the door in about 2013. It became this industry secret, almost like a folklore, where lots of people in the arts in Brisbane knew of this mythical tent, but no one really had a strong connection to it.
“My folks were on a regional driving trip last year to western Queensland. They stopped in Augathella and saw this, it was called the Q150 shed at the time. They took a photo and sent it to me. Wynnum Fringe had been hiring these tents from Europe every year … a very expensive part of the budget.
“I was saying to the team – not thinking that it was possible – that we need our own. At a time similar to me saying that to the team I got a picture sent by my Dad of this one in regional Queensland. Long story short, we’ve now got it in Wynnum.”
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Mirusia Louwerse.
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CEO Tom Oliver (right).
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Guitarist Wesley Dean.
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After a few hasty renovations to the deteriorating floor, what is now known as the Augathella Spiegeltent survived the challenge of last year’s four-day Wynnum Fringe Taster and is now ready to take centre stage to host this year’s reformatted event.
“It was very educational because we didn’t know how many people it would fit. We probably sold too many tickets to some shows thinking that it could fit more than it could, but that was fun,” admits Oliver.
“Still, I thought, I really hope it doesn’t rain. And then, of course, one day it rains when we were sold out for whatever show was in there. We couldn’t move people away from the raindrops that were coming through the canvas roof. So we handed out ponchos and free drinks to those who were lucky enough to have a splash on them.
‘this is a different way to experience art and an intimate setting that feels different to anything else’
“Now we’ve committed to a new canvas roof that’s being prepared as we speak in Toowoomba. We’ve ordered a stage that we’re buying from China and we’re looking at drapes and other bits and pieces put in. I mean, the list of expenses is endless.
“There’s something different about gathering in a park in a spiegeltent … this is a different way to experience art and an intimate setting that feels different to anything else.”
And all the improvements are happening in plenty of time for the old girl to transform into a glittering jewel, also in readiness for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
“We have been on a journey with the festival and every year it’s a different festival,” says Oliver.
“Thankfully, the spiegeltent opportunity has led us to Bay Terrace, a site gifted to us for a year. That’s where the spiegeltent is. We’ve got such a loyal audience that comes with us wherever we play.
For Oliver, the new formula – July festival, Bay Terrace site and the much-loved spiegeltent – is “the formula forever more”.
“For two weeks in July, Wynnum Fringe is there. That’s my hope and dream. If Wynnum Fringe could be around in 2032 and I could be a member of that conversation, I would be over the moon.”