North Terrace will be filled with exotic sounds and enticing spices as Indonesia comes to the heart of Adelaide for the annual Indofest FREE cultural and culinary festival, to be held on Sunday 25 September from 11am to 4pm on North Terrace, adjacent the Art Gallery and SA Museum.
Presented by the Australian-Indonesian Association of South Australia in cooperation with the Indonesian community, Indofest is for the second year presented in association with OzAsia Festival. Indofest-Adelaide’s artistic director, Brett Calliss, has recently returned to Adelaide after spending five years in Indonesia studying the arts and culture of several different regions and he has worked with the local community to put together an exciting program for the ninth and biggest ever festival.
“There will be a number of groups from Indonesia working alongside local artists to present a program of over thirty performances, many of them never before performed in Adelaide”, said Brett. A highlight of the festival is Suara Indonesia Dance Group from Sydney presenting an energetic mix of dance, body percussion and song, blending traditional and contemporary influences from their Indonesian heritage and Australian upbringing. Artistic director and founder Alfira O’Sullivan and Acehnese choreographer Murtala have been performing at schools and festivals since 2001 and they are also undertaking some exciting collaborations with Indigenous communities in the Top End.
This year sees newly created group The Rancakers (pronounced ‘Run-chucka’) take to the main stage giving audiences a taste of West Sumatran culture, with its fast-moving dances featuring rhythmic stomping accompanied by an orchestra of traditional and modern instruments. Adelaide’s popular Adelindo Angklung orchestra, led by the husband and wife team Ferry and Yen Yen Chandra, will run Jam Sessions for children on this traditional Indonesian bamboo instrument.
There will be children’s dance and crafts workshops and retail stalls selling crafts, live music and dance on stages on the Armoury Lawns and in the Art Gallery’s Radford Auditorium. Indonesian street food will be on sale along the footpaths of North Terrace between Kintore Avenue and the SA Museum, and cooking demonstrations will unlock the mysteries of Spice Islands cuisine.
For nine years now Indofest-Adelaide has played an important part in bringing a deeper appreciation of Indonesian culture to the people of Adelaide, thanks to sponsors, including Diamond partners, the Adelaide City Council and the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion, and Platinum sponsors, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tourism, and Education Partner, Flinders University’s Jembatan (‘bridge’) initiative.
WHAT: Indofest-Adelaide Cultural and Culinary Festival (Free family event)
WHEN: Sunday 25 September, 11am to 4pm
WHERE: North Terrace in and around the Art Gallery and SA Museum grounds.
Experience Indonesia, in the heart of Adelaide. To find out more visit www.indofest.com.au
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