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Byron Shire
March 28, 2024

Culture in the Byron Shire for the Week Beginning July 25, 2019

Latest News

Man charged over domestic violence and pursuit offences – Tweed Heads

A man has been charged following a pursuit near Tweed Heads on Monday.

Other News

The Picture House is turning 8

It feels like we were only just ringing in the new year days ago and here we are approaching Easter weekend at The Brunswick Picture House. It’s already been a whirlwind start to 2024 with their biggest and busiest program so far, bringing an eclectic mix of some of the hottest stand-up comedy, music gigs, film screenings and cabaret – and that was just last week!

Seize the Decade report outlines benefits of renewables

The Climate Council says many more Australian families can directly benefit from rooftop solar and batteries under a new plan that spells out how we can electrify the nation and cut climate pollution this decade.

How the coral crisis affects other marine wildlife

Marine heatwaves are killing coral and denuding reefs of their colourful beauty – but in a world where everything is food for something else, these heatwaves also pose a major threat to biodiversity.

Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

Lennox Park and the shelter shed has now been upgraded and reopened.

Peter Garrett gives Bluesfest the nod

If I say the words ‘US Forces give the nod’, I can pretty much guarantee that you will hear the unmistakable voice of Peter Garrett ringing in your ears. Your head may even start to bob up and down a bit. 

Way of the dog

One of the more disappointing aspects of the decline of Byron Bay, and I have a long list, is...

Greg Sullivan, the big hairy feminist headlining at Country Club Comedy at Ocean Shores Country Club on Tuesday 6 August

Country Club Comedy: Greg Sullivan, Buster Kirby, & Mandy Nolan

Ocean Shores Country Club  |  Tuesday 6 August  |  7pm  |  Free

Greg Sullivan is the comedian’s comedian. He’s the guy comedians watch and say of, ‘wow I wish I’d thought of that’. Greg Sullivan has a unique way of seeing the world and a knack for creating astute observations about our everyday human behaviour. It’s something he’s a natural at as self-examination has been a major theme for most of his work, particularly dealing with his weight and the stigmas around being ‘a fat guy’. Greg doesn’t do the expected ‘fat’ jokes; instead he cleverly deconstructs the social mores around weight and the challenges he faces. Not afraid of dark places, Greg’s comedy navigates some of the most difficult territory with ease, sharing tales of depression or loneliness, even suicidal ideation with a comedic insight that allows audiences to relate to the subject matter in a more personal and non-confronting way. It’s genius.

Greg is joined by up-and-coming comedian Buster Kirby from Murwillumbah. A plumber by day, he knows how to get your pipes working. Buster recently did a comedy course with Mandy Nolan in Kingscliff and blew everyone away with his natural ability to tell a story. Mandy Nolan is there as the MC.

Country Club Comedy at the Ocean Shores Country Club on Tuesday 6 August. 7pm. Free. 


The Twits for NORPA at Lismore City Hall on Tuesday 20 August at 6pm.

Roald Dahl’s The Twits: A Spare Parts Puppet Theatre Production

Lismore City Hall  |  Tuesday 20 Aug  |  6pm

A new razztwizzling adaption of Roald Dahl’s very irreverent classic The Twits takes you into the world of grumpy old couple, Mrs and Mrs Twit, who haven’t had a good thought or done a kind thing in years. They like nothing more than dreaming up terrible tricks to play on each other. They are bound to put a grizzly grin on your face!

This Spare Parts Theatre production is at Lismore City Hall on Tuesday 20 August at 6pm. www.norpa.org.au


Author Andy Griffiths is in Lismore City Hall on Monday 29 July

Andy Griffiths Author Talk

Lismore City Hall  |  Monday 29 July  |  5.30pm  |  $12

Andy and Terry’s treehouse now has 13 new storeys, including a tiny-horse level, a pyjama-party room, an Underpants Museum, a photo-bombing booth, a waiting room, a Door of Doom, a circus, a giant-robot-fighting arena, a traffic school, a water-ski park filled with flesh-eating piranhas, and a treehouse visitor centre with a 24-hour information desk, a penguin-powered flying treehouse tour bus, and a gift shop.

Author Andy Griffiths is in Lismore to talk to the kids in a very special author talk. You need to have a parent or a guardian with you and everyone needs a ticket. Lismore City Hall. Monday 29 July, 5.30pm. norpa.org.au


Luka Lesson performing and doing a workshop in Byron

Luka Lesson Workshop and Show

Byron Theatre, Community Centre  |  Saturday   |  The Transformative Moment Workshop: 11am–2pm, $60/40  |  Show: 7.30pm, $25/20

Touring nationally with multi-instrumentalist Egyptian-Australian musician Meena Shamalay, Luka Lesson is in town to share his award-winning poems and his new works written while on a recent creative escape to South America. This show is a perfect marriage of styles – from the haunting lyricism Lesson is known for to the soulful single just released and rapidly gaining radio traction, to the interweaving of poem and melody with Shamaly’s rhythmic virtuosity. It is a night of urgent and visceral messages not to be missed.

Supported by fellow poet/activist Erfan Daliri (Newkind Festival), and First Nations musician/poet Allara Briggs-Pattison, this event is about to set the theatre on fire with lyricism, passion, and honest vulnerability.

Luka Lesson has spent the last 13 years facilitating poetry workshops across the planet. This particular process will focus on a pivotal moment in the participants’ lives as the central point of a new poem – as well as performance techniques and individual feedback.

Tix and info at byroncentre.com.au


Writers on the road coming to a place near you.

Byron Writers Festival on the Road

Saturday 27 July |  2.30–3.30pm  | NRCG: 44 Cherry St, Ballina
Saturday 27 July  |  5.30–7pm  |  Byron School of Art, Mullumbimby, 112 Dalley St, Mullumbimby
Sunday 28 July  |  11am–12pm  |  Lismore Regional Gallery, 11 Rural St, Lismore
Sunday 28 July  |  3–4pm  |  Kingscliff Community Centre Hall, 81 Marine Parade, Kingscliff
Monday 29 July  |  5–6.30pm  |  Lennox Head Library, Cnr Park Lane & Mackney Lane
Tuesday 30 July  |  6.30–8pm  |  Nimbin School of the Arts  |  47 Cullen St, Nimbin

Celebrated crime writers Michael Robotham and Jock Serong, along with author Kristina Olsson and poet Omar Sakr, are doing their time for crime, on the run with Byron Writers Festival for a series of community events over 27–31 July throughout the Northern Rivers, before their final showdown at Byron Writers Festival (2–4 August).

Behind bars, pun intended, in venues from Kingscliff to Casino, catch the gang for a rewarding night of crime, art, and entertainment as they divulge their darkest literary secrets, where the bodies are buried, and whom they had to kill to get published in the first place.

Writers on the Road offers an exceptional evening of literary entertainment in each town, all free and open to the public, thanks to funding from Create NSW and Byron Writers Festival. The road trip will also be visiting schools in Mullumbimby, Nimbin, and Casino to work with the students in a series of free workshops and seminars as part of Byron Writers Festival’s StoryBoard program.

Writers on the Road begins on Saturday 27 July with a heist… sorry, an event, at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina, then on to the Byron School of Art at Mullumbimby; Sunday morning sees the gang at Lismore Regional Gallery for a session with the StoryBoard young crime writers; Sunday afternoon at Kingscliff Community Centre; Monday at Lennox Head Library (‘We have heard they have some very valuable first editions there,’ says Zacharey ‘Calamity’ Jane); Tuesday at Nimbin School of Arts, and finishing Wednesday evening at the Casino Community Centre.

All events are free and open to the public, so join us if you dare. For more information visit: byronwritersfestival.com/roadtrip


Dark science is a new freaky festival of fun that will occupy Lismore Quad from August 16.

Dark Science

The QUAD Lismore  |  16 & 17 August  |  6–10pm

Dark Science at The Quad welcomes Intergalactic Space Dub DJ Wonkytooth and Kellie O’Dempsey, Apollo sounds as they present a strictly roots live dub session with Mick Dick aka Wonkytooth at the controls. This is an old-school analog mix-up with tape echos and spring reverbs.

Travel the bass spacewaves in the dub dome with sonic propulsion from Totem sound system. Bringing more light to darkness is The Space Cowboy: Imagination rules the world!

Space Cowboy, the world’s wildest record breaker, presents a new show action packed with thrilling stunts and mental marvels.

Witness his curious antics as he draws pictures from people’s minds and twists spoons in their hands. You are invited to bring your own cutlery for The Space Cowboy to bend with no apparent physical force!

As the holder of over 55 Guinness World Records he is leading the frontier of extreme performance. Experience his sword swallowing, chainsaw juggling, and more as he proves the science behind the unbelievable.

Dark Science is on at the QUAD 16 & 17 August.


Conversation and Afternoon Tea with Di Morrisssy and Mick O’Regan.

Moller Pavilion, Bangalow Showground  |  Thursday 1 August  |  2pm |  $25  |  Bookings essential for catering purposes

Friends of the Libraries, Byron Shire, in conjunction with the Byron Writers Festival, are hosting Conversation and Afternoon Tea with Di Morrissey and Mick O’Regan.

Di Morrissey is one of the most successful and prolific authors Australia has ever produced. She trained as a journalist and has worked in newspapers, magazines, television, film, theatre, and advertising around the world. Her fascination with different countries’ cultural, political, and environmental issues has been the catalyst for her novels, which are all inspired by landscape. Find out how she works up her ideas, her greatest inspirations, and how she maintains the discipline to write so prolifically!

Thursday 1 August at 2pm at the Moller Pavilion at the Bangalow Showgrounds. Bookings essential – tix are $25 at byronbayfol.com or go into Bangalow Newsagency. 6687 1396


Extinction delves deep into the heart of our moral values.

Extinction

Drill Hall Theatre  | Friday 2, 9, 16 August; and Saturday 3, 10, 17 August, 7.30pm  |  Sunday 11 and 18 August matinee 2pm  |  $30/22

Hannie Rayson weaves her words with wit, intelligence, and huge understanding of the human condition in her play Extinction, where she delves deep into the heart of our moral values. The narrative wraps an important conservation message around a unique and personal human story that materialises from a wild, rainy night, a twist of fate, and an injured Australian native tiger quoll, bringing together four very interesting and diverse characters. The struggle at the heart of this is: is money more important than principles? This draws the audience into an emotive story, interwoven with environmental and social ambiguities.

Playing at the Drill Hall Theatre in Mullumbimby 2–18 August. Special night: Sunday 4 August 5.30pm followed by Q&A with Hannie Rayson. Tickets $40/32, which includes wonderful snacks /drinks or just $30/22 on other nights. www.drillhalltheatre.org.au also at the Mullumbimby Bookshop


Gutsy Girls not just for girls

Gutsy Girls

Byron Theatre, Community Centre  |  Sunday  |  6pm  |  $30/20

Born out of a desire to showcase the strong, inspirational, adventurous women of the outdoor world, the Gutsy Girls Adventure Film Tour presents a carefully curated selection of short films that will entertain, enthral, and enlighten.

Showcasing a 2½-hour program of the most heartfelt, inspiring, and entertaining films celebrating adventurous women from independent film makers around the globe. Gutsy Girls screenings are not just for women – they are for all of us to celebrate diversity and inclusion and the rad ladies of the adventure world.

Byron Theatre on Sunday at 6pm. Tix are $30/20. byroncentre.com.au


Artifishal presented by Patagonia at Byron Theatre.

Artifishal & Saving Martha

Byron Theatre, Community Centre  |  Thursday 1 August  |  6pm

Patagonia has announced the release of two films: Artifishal and Saving Martha urging for the protection of wild fish. The 80-minute feature film Artifishal explores the high cost – ecological, financial, and cultural – of our mistaken belief that engineered solutions can make up for habitat destruction. They trace the impact of fish hatcheries and farms on wild fish populations, and the extraordinary amount of tax dollars wasted on an industry that hinders wild fish recovery, pollutes our rivers and waterways, and contributes to the problem it claims to solve.

Saving Martha is a short film about fish farms in Australia. Tasmania is regarded as one of our most pristine and wild states. However, in recent years that reputation has been tarnished by the boom of the local salmon-farming industry. With environmental regulations struggling to keep pace with the industry’s growth, the marine environments that host the industry have been significantly affected and, in some cases, have approached collapse. Increased scrutiny and criticism of the industry have forced operators to find new locations, including neighbouring King Island – adjacent to the world-class waves at Martha Lavinia Beach. Saving Martha highlights the plight of the King Island community while emphasising the negative impact the proposed farms will have on the ecology of the region.

Screening at the Byron Theatre on Thursday 1 August at 6pm. byroncentre.com.au


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Iconic Lennox beach shed upgraded –  not demolished

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