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Uniquely Mallee experience at inaugural festival

TICKET’S for the Mallee’s newest festival, SemiArid, are now on sale.

Arts Mildura has announced the first release of tickets for the program for SemiArid SOUNDS – the first of three chapters of the SemiArid Series – which includes Lior, Myf Warhurst, Philly, DJ Mz Rizk, Syzergy, and others to be announced.

SemiArid SOUNDS will run from October 19 to November 6, stretching from Mildura to Swan Hill, Murrayville and Ouyen.

“The SemiArid festivals have been designed to be a uniquely Mallee experience and provide audiences with events that are delivered differently and not what they would expect or is available at any other time of the year,” SemiArid festival director Dean Worthington said.

“Festivals are a time of celebration, a time to have fun, to experience new things and to do things that we wouldn’t normally do in our everyday lives.”

The SemiArid SOUNDS program has been created to be as diverse and encompassing of as many different styles from folk and chamber music, book launches, hip hop, films and dinners the program will appeal to many locals and tourists of all tastes.

One of Australia’s most acclaimed singer/songwriters, Lior, will perform at the Swan Hill Town Hall with collaborator Domini Forster.

Their project, Animals in Hiding, features songs that are rooted in intimate storytelling, underpinned by intricate guitar with Lior and Domini’s close vocal harmonies as the focal point of the songs, harking back to the iconic folk duos of the 60s.

The program will also see the homecoming of Mallee exports Myf Warhurst and Philly.

Myf will be launching her memoir Time of My Life published by Hachette.

She shares funny, fabulous, and occasionally fraught tales about growing up in a small country town with an unhealthy obsession with Countdown, then working in Australian radio and her experiences on the music quiz show Spicks & Specks.

“We have really focused on delivering special one-off moments that shouldn’t be missed. The program allows our new audiences to push themselves and to experience engaging moments here in the Mallee. These events will be presented as a whole experience that shows the very best of what we can do by combining high quality arts and regional hospitality,” Mr Worthington said.

“Rather than presenting a traditional festival model which focuses attention on only one artform, location or town, Arts Mildura’s vision for SemiArid (HARVEST, VAST and SOUNDS) is to curate a diverse program of arts and entertainment in unique locations across the region combined with exceptional local food, produce and wine.

“SemiArid creates opportunities for a broad range of audiences to become creative cultural tourists by exploring the Mallee and discovering the towns, the local produce, and areas of unique natural beauty across outback Victoria.

“All of this drives investment back into the local economy and supports Mallee-based producers and providers.

“This festival delivered in three distinct chapters will not only reignite and bring major events back to the region but will also drive tourism, generate local jobs for local people and stimulate our regional economy in a distinctive way.”

First release tickets for SemiArid SOUNDS went on sale yesterday, with the remainder of the program announced on September 15.

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