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June 15, 2026

Culture in the Byron Shire and Beyond for the Week Beginning September 4, 2019

Latest News

Peace in our time?

While details remain scant, there are claims from multiple sources that a peace deal has finally been reached in the war between Iran and the United States, after nearly four months of fighting.

Other News

Appeal to locate wanted man Adam Richards

Police are appealing for assistance to locate a man wanted on outstanding warrants in the Casino area.

Do you want the rail trail completed? Sign the petition

The local Byron and Mullumbimby chambers of commerce, and the Northern Rivers Rail Trail Supporters (NRRTS) are asking everyone who supports making the rail trail happen to get on board and sign up to support the rail trail at www.northernriversrailtrail.com.au/support.

Compassion missing

Predictably, Marianne McCormack (Letters, 3 June) chooses to ignore my personal claims that I am not a racist, to support...

Lismore’s Blakebrook quarry proposal meets resistance

A recent gathering of locals concerned about a proposed ‘mega dump’ landfill at Blakebrook quarry has been supported by Lismore Greens councillors. Lismore Council say they are still considering the proposal.

Raising funds for BYS

Byron Youth Service (BYS) supports young people across the Byron Shire through a diverse range of creative, educational, and wellbeing initiatives, while continuing significant improvements to The YAC (Youth Activity Centre).

Wanted: citizen scientists to check on our creeks

The Richmond River upper catchment is currently sitting on a C- in the Richmond River Ecological Health Report Card. It's not a number we can accept without doing something about it.

Matt Okine – one of the three headlines for triple-header comedy at the Mullum Ex-Services on Friday 4 October

Comedy Triple Bill with Matt Okine, Nick Cody, MC Dan Willis

Mullum Ex-Services  |  Friday 4 October  |  $25/30

Mandy Nolan presents a standup comedy triple header of international proportions with UK comic, and star of the touring Best of British shows Dan Willis as MC, with a double feature of former Triple J morning presenter and award-winning comedian Matt Okine and one of the only Aussies to be invited to perform for Conan O’Brien’s late-night talk show, and Comedy Central, Nick Cody. This is an absolute blitzer of a lineup that gives comedy lovers a taste of a Melbourne Comedy Festival-styled gala!

Matt Okine has scooped some major accolades in the past few years including an ARIA for his comedy release Live at the Enmore Theatre and the prestigious Director’s Choice Awards at the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival for his very personal show The Other Guy. Following the success of his live standup show, Stan announced The Other Guy as one of their new original productions for 2017. Okine performs sellout national tours of his live shows every year, with featured performances at Just for Laughs Montreal and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He has toured London, Singapore, Hong Kong, and India and supported international acts such as Dave Chappelle, Aziz Ansari, and Chelsea Handler.

Nick Cody has racked up rave reviews at every Aussie comedy festival but also at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Soho Theatre in London. He has also performed numerous times at the invitation-only Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal and the New York Comedy Festival and Johannesburg Comedy Festival. Nick’s popularity rose even further abroad after making his US TV debut on Conan O’Brien’s late-night talk show – the fourth Australian at that time to do so. Cody became the face of Carlton Dry after the Carlton United Breweries made the red-bearded wonder their very own ambassador. No stranger to the podcast world, his latest offering Crushin’ it with Nick Cody is gaining listeners with every episode.

Dan Willis may have started out a computer-science geek but he made the transition to comedy and hasn’t looked back! A regular at the Edinburgh Fringe and at comedy festivals around the world as a producer, promoter, and resident MC. Time Out in London declared him ‘A great comedian and a wonderful performer.’

Friday 4 October at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club. Tix $25/30 at mandynolan.com.au or at the club


Dusty Rich, headlining at the Beach Hotel on Tuesday

Comedy at the Beachy! Featuring Trevor Noah’s support act!

Beach Hotel Byron Bay  |  Tuesday 10 September  |  7pm  |  Free

Standup comedy is bringing locals to the Beach Hotel in droves! Last month Mandy Nolan presented Comedy at the Beachy to hundreds of enthusiastic comedy fans. It was standing room only with punters packed shoulder to shoulder to enjoy an international comedy star at the Beachy – free! This is an awesome offering from the pub, who took out the pokies to put in the laughs! For the second month in a row, the Beach Hotel offers an international headline act… free!

This month Mandy Nolan presents two of her favourite comedians. Dusty Rich hails from South Africa where he cut his teeth as the support act for Trevor Noah. A regular at rooms around the country, Dusty is loved for his off-the-wall comedy brain that seems to move at lightning speed. He’s highly physical, prowling the stage, playing with audiences, and then in what often appears like a comedy miracle, he turns it all back on himself!

Joining him as the support for the evening is Matt Ford, one of the most promising up-and-coming comics on the circuit. Matt often features with the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars (who just smashed Edinburgh Fringe Fest!) and The Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow. Matt Ford’s humour brings a contemporary streetsmart to everyday observations.

Join us at the Beach Hotel this Tuesday for Comedy at the Beachy hosted by Mandy Nolan… and friends! Free gig from 7pm.


Playground Festival at The Quad in Lismore on Saturday 21 Sept. Photo by Rebecca Rushbrook

Playground Festival

The Quad and Lismore Regional Gallery  |  Saturday 21 September  |  10am–4pm  |  Free

Playground Festival is a free one-day festival for children and families co-presented by The Quad and Lismore Regional Gallery on Saturday 21 September (10am–4pm). Packed with creative activities, roving performances, and music – kids and families can get involved in everything from building giant bowerbird nests to learning to walk a tightwire to creating their own playground.

Playground Festival highlights include…

Tightwire Playground by SeedArts, Spaghetti Circus workshop and performance of Planet, Poppy Galactic and the Beat, The Walkie Talkies, and Roundabout Theatre’s The Slow Show. The festival also includes hands-on kids’ do-it-yourself activities like Build Your Own Giant Bowerbird Nest, where kids are encouraged to create a human-sized bower. There’s even a Make Your Own Playground!

Saturday 21 September at the QUAD and the Regional Gallery. Free.


Sophia Hewson, Artist Kisses subject 2014, on show as part of the Love Exhibition at Tweed Regional Gallery – opening Friday

Love

Tweed Regional Gallery  |  Friday  |  5–8pm  |  Free

There’re so many kinds of love. Is love only a matter of the heart, or the brain – or is it a cliché? Curated by gallery director Susi Muddiman OAM, Tweed Regional Gallery’s new major exhibition Love is an exploration of love in its multiple forms. Responding to the theme of love, the exhibition features new and existing work by over 30 contemporary Australian artists, including Ben Quilty, Danie Mellor, Euan Macleod, Fiona Lowry, Guy Maestri, Joanna Braithwaite, Joshua Yeldham, Lucas Grogan, Maria Kontis, Michael Cook, Michael Zavros, Patricia Piccinini, and Victoria Reichelt. To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, the gallery is hosting the Heart on Your Sleeve party on Friday from 5 till 8pm. Live entertainment and refreshments will be provided. Bookings essential to https://trybooking.com/BEERK. Additionally, On Saturday 2 November 2019 at 6.30pm, the Friends of the Gallery will host a special screening of Baz Luhrmann’s classic film Strictly Ballroom at the Regent Cinema at 1 Brisbane Street, Murwillumbah. Enjoy refreshments and a glass of champagne on arrival. There will be prizes for best dressed. Tickets available at: https://trybooking.com/BEIRT.


Mandy Nolan heads up open mic at the Court House this Thursday!

Open Mic Comedy

Court House Hotel Mullumbimby  |  Thursday  |  8pm  |  Free

Mandy Nolan heads up open mic at the Court House this Thursday! See some of the area’s aspiring comedians take to the talking stick.

Being funny is a calling for some; an affliction for others. And a career path that most guidance counsellors only offer to kids who spend most of their time in detention. You have to think outside the box. But first of all you need a box!

Catch Mandy and her troupe of truth tellers at the Court House Hotel in Mullumbimby on Thursday at 8pm. Free.


Stories in the club

Stories in the Club

Club Mullum, Mullum Ex-Services  |  Sunday  |  4pm  |  Donation

After two years curating Stories in the Club at the Mullumbimby RSL Jenny Cargill-Strong has stepped down from the leadership role and John Allan has picked up the baton. This Sunday’s event features tellers of tales both personal and traditional, a singer, and a poem or two.

Diana James headed for the desert in the early 1970s to work at Fregon Art Centre with the Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara peoples of central Australia. The desert country became home for twenty-five years, and its people the extended family who have shaped her life since.

Steve Nugent is well known as a percussionist in the Shire. Martial arts led him to another world of physical expression: the rich dance traditions of Africa. Steve will share a traditional African tale with song and music played by him on the illimba, the ‘concert grand’ cousin of the little thumb piano.

Saadi Allan has spent much of his life flying by the seat of his pants. He is CEO of Syntro Biosystems, an eco-innovation company that is currently launching its first product internationally, the Subpod composting system. He was formerly the head of marketing with BeeInventive (Flow™ Hive), the company that launched the Northern Rivers beehive invention that took the world by storm on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. Sunday at Club Mullum from 4pm. Entry by donation.


Women’s Adventure Film showing at the Palace.

ShelterBox: Women’s Adventure Film

Palace Cinema, Byron Bay  |  Friday

Last week I got the booking details wrong for The Women’s Adventure Film showing at the Palace. So this time I will get it right! Presented by ShelterBox, this is a collection of highly anticipated short films from some of the most extraordinary women in adventure. The evening will be hosted by ShelterBox – an international charity that travels around the world to provide emergency shelter and aid to families who have lost everything to natural disaster and conflict. The event begins at 6pm for guests to enjoy complimentary drinks and canapés. Attendees will also have the chance to win some fantastic prizes, kindly donated by Osprey, Stone & Wood, Atmosea, The Farm, Pukka, Blundstone, Pikt, Braer, and more. Friday at the Palace Cinema. Tickets to the event are $30 and all profits raised will go towards ShelterBox’s ongoing responses around the world. Right now ShelterBox is supporting communities in Syria, Paraguay, Cameroon, and Nigeria.

Learn more about ShelterBox here: www.shelterboxaustralia.org.au Learn more about the event here: www.womensadventurefilmtour.com

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How to stop the erosion of our human rights

Let’s celebrate Refugee Week, 15–21 June, which was initiated in Australia 40 years ago and now observed worldwide.

Appeal to locate wanted man Adam Richards

Police are appealing for assistance to locate a man wanted on outstanding warrants in the Casino area.

Marine Rescue volunteers assist disabled dive boat

Volunteers and two vessels from Marine Rescue Point Danger safely assisted thirteen people to shore on Saturday afternoon after a commercial dive vessel experienced engine issues and was unable to safely cross the Tweed Bar.

Discovering Byron’s influence on Australian music

For a small regional area the Byron Shire and Northern Rivers have had an outsized impact on the culture and music in Australia.