The 2012 Manly Arts Festival
Over 70 exciting, fun-filled events for everyone!
The most exciting cultural event on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the annual Manly Arts Festival, runs from 14 September to 1 October 2012 with scores of attractions including indoor and outdoor exhibitions and ‘open studios’, concerts and dance performances, films and creative workshops.
The Manly Arts Festival is the centrepiece to Manly Council’s exciting new cultural festival ‘Manly VIBE’ - a celebration of all things ‘Manly’!
Offering more than 70 bright, family-friendly cultural events, the 2012 Manly Arts Festival will be officially launched by Midnight Oil founding member, Rob Hirst (Friday 14 September, 6 – 8pm, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, West Esplanade, Manly).
For advance event information, call the Festival Info Line 9976 1421.
Throughout the 18-day festival, programs are available from Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Manly Library, Manly Council offices, Manly Visitor Information Centre and other venues throughout Manly.
Manly Arts Festival Highlighs
Chuck Bradley - Manly Sealife Sanctuary - Nature Photography Exhibition
New to the 2012 Manly Arts Festival will be a stunning nature photography exhibition by Scotland Island-based photographer Chuck Bradley in partnership with Manly Sealife Sanctuary.
Chuck presents remarkable images showing fish, jellyfish and other sea creatures in lyrical studies displayed as luminous large scale transparencies on the upper level of the Manly Sealife Sanctuary on West Esplanade. Contact: 9976 1421.
Street Art
Long home to surf, skate, music and beach culture – Manly is now home to street art too! Leading artists like Ben Brown and Shannon Crees are coming to paint out loud, right outside Manly Art Gallery & Museum! Watch a collaborative art wall grow to become ‘The Great Wall of Manly’ from Friday 14 September, 6-8pm, through Saturday 15 - Sunday 16 September, then remaining up for the Festival.
Also for the first time, Manly Art Gallery & Museum is hosting a free outdoor artist event and art market along West Esplanade between Manly Wharf and the Gallery. Artists from all over the Peninsula will come to paint and create outdoors, showcasing their latest creations on Saturday 15 September, 10 – 4pm. Contact: or 9976 1421.
Torchlight Painting
Another highlight of the Festival will be pioneering night photographer Peter Solness and his ‘light painting’: working only by torchlight and blurring the line between photography and painting to expose new ways of viewing familiar Sydney sights. At Manly Art Gallery & Museum, West Esplanade, Manly.
Quaranta Australis
Artists Sue Anderson and Gwen Harrison present Quaranta Australis, an exhibition of artists books, prints and mixed media works in response to two of Sydney’s colonial era sites: the Quarantine Station at North Head and Cockatoo Island.
Art Events for Kids, Teens and Young Adults
All age groups are catered for by the 2012 Manly Arts Festival with many events open free to the public, and a number of special events and workshops aimed specifically at teens and kids, including the great ‘24/7 Youth Film Festival’ in which teams aged 12 to 24 years have 24 hours to make a seven minute film.
Manly Lantern Parade
Then there’s the return of The Manly Lantern Parade, a huge success in 2011. Bring lanterns or a mask for a fun, free outdoor family event as Manly’s West Esplanade is transformed. Enjoy live music and watch a light show on the beach! Join the twilight lantern procession through Manly to end again at Manly Cove. (Saturday 29 September, 5.00pm – 8.30pm).
Music
Music lovers are catered for by performances like the Sydney Chamber Music Festival’s ‘forgotten instrument concert’ (ever heard of the serpent or the ophicleide?) – and Alan Holley will perform his new composition for multiple flutes, virtuosic woodwind and brass written for artists of the Sydney Symphony and Australian Opera & Ballet orchestras.
Manly's Big Draw
Adults, children and families are also invited to be part of the ‘Manly’s Big Draw’ event, a fun community ‘art happening’ at the Manly Art Gallery & Museum on the theme ‘My Family Story’. All materials are supplied. Sunday 23 September, 10am – 3pm.
Nine Local Art Studio Tours
And there are no less than nine studios tours during which artists open their private studios, art spaces and galleries to the public, letting you get ‘behind the scenes’.
Art Workshops
Then there are the workshops! Lantern-making, mask-making, printmaking for adults and children, watercolour painting, Chinese brush painting, street art stencilling and abstract painting to mention just a few.
And when you need a break, there are cafés, world class restaurants, a fabulous ocean beach, stunning scenery, pubs and clubs, boutiques and surf-shops and much more.
Festival Information and Contact
Manly Arts Festival began in 1994 and has since grown into one of the State’s leading community-based arts festivals.
The Manly Arts Festival attracts over 15,000 visitors each year. Many of the events are open and free to the public but the program also includes a number of prestige events ranging in admission price.
For advance event information, call the Festival Info Line 9976 1421.
Throughout the 18-day festival, programs are available from Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Manly Library, Manly Council offices, Manly Visitor Information Centre and other venues throughout Manly.