Filmed and edited by Raul Andres Vallejo Lopez
Saturday, October 28th, 2017
10:30am – 5:00pm
Quarry Green Ultimo
Celebrate the Ultimo Pyrmont community and our stories through music, dance, food, and art. Prepare yourself for a festival full of life and culture with more than 35 food and shop stalls to choose from and a wide variety of Indigenous, local and culturally diverse performances. We have curated a program of events, of exceptional quality, across all art forms, on our stages, pop up venues, outdoors, and in unexpected places, sure to engage and inspire the widest possible audiences… Also, special entertainment for the little ones -look for the kid’s tent!
We acknowledge the Gadigal people of Eora nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which this festival takes place, and pay our respects to Elders past and present, and to the knowledge embedded forever in the Aboriginal Custodianship of Country.
ARTISTIC VISION
Uptown Festival 2017 celebrates “Our stories” and “The Spirit of Place”, the stories and spirit of the Ultimo and Pyrmont communities, past, present, and future. Embracing and honouring our rich Indigenous culture and heritage, and our culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Uptown Festival welcomes all, from near and far, to share in a day of culture, arts, food, and festivities.
Responding to the ideas of great local artists and the bold and daring work they create, we bring to you a range of exciting creative projects in pop-up venues, on our streets, community centres, in parklands, in the backdrop of Quarry Green as our centre stage.
As spring unfolds in Sydney, Uptown Festival brings a burst of energy, ideas, and arts to Ultimo and Pyrmont. It’s the perfect moment in our year to experience the outstanding work of artists, community members and thinkers from the local area and those who have a strong connection with the area.
Celebrating the role that artists and the community play in creating extraordinary ways for us to see, understand and re-imagine our world, we have curated a FREE program of events, of exceptional quality, across all art forms, on our stages, pop-up venues, outdoors, and in unexpected places, sure to engage and inspire the widest possible audiences.
program
Main stage
10:30 – 10:40 Welcome to Country – Aunty Millie Ingram 
10:40 – 10:55 Heartdancers Charity “The Spirit of Place”collaboration with Rachel Shields, Gumaroy Newman and Milan Dhiiyaan
11:05 – 11:25 Pyrmont Sings
11:40 – 12:00 BLT Local Band
12:05 – 12:25 Official Festival Opening
12:25 – 13:05 Jamestown Collective
13:10 – 13:20 Sarah Houbolt Hula Hoop 
13:35 – 14:05 The Sydney Flamenco Studio with Arrebato Ensemble
14:20 – 14:50 Evie J Willie
15:10 – 15:45 Teyuna Band
16:00 – 16:50 Hot Potato Band
Kids Tent
10:30 – 11:00 Senior Choir and Recorder group Ultimo Public School
11:15 – 12:35 Rachel Shields Aboriginal story telling, song and visual arts workshop
12:50 – 13:50 Milan Dhiiyaan Aboriginal Dance Troupe workshop and performance
14:00 – 14:30 Sydney Cheerleading Team performance
14:30 – 15:10 Heartdancers’ Guwing Bayabuba “Sunrise” music and dance interactive performance
15:20 – 15:55 Miss Jacqui Ballerinas dance workshop
16:10 – 16:50 Sarah Houbolt Hula Hoop Workshop
Kids Activities: animal farm, face painting and more…
Pop Up Tent
10:30 – 11:00 Pyrmont Ukulele Club
11:15 – 11:45 Unit 57 band
12:20 – 13:00 DJ Pineapple Republic
13:10 – 13:50 Kate Wadey Jazz Band Trio
14:00 – 14:40 DJ i-Sight. Wiradjuri Platinum Mixerz
14:50 – 15:50 DJ Vincent Sebastian
16:00 – 17:00 DJ Pineapple Republic
Auslan interpreting is available for this section of the program
Narration of the visual aspects of the performance is available for people who are blind or have low vision
performers
We are committed to:
increasing community participation • reducing social isolation • improving accessibility to community activities and services • building a diverse and engaged audience by creating projects with the community that will resonate with the lives of people living in Ultimo and Pyrmont • presenting and commissioning work by leading visionary artists and arts organisations
Pop up gallery Artful Inclusion project
The Artful Inclusion Project is an initiative of The Australian College of Applied Psychology in partnership with The Uniting Harris Community Center, City West Housing, and the City of Sydney. Over the last 5 months, the program has sought to mobilize socially isolated residents living in the Ultimo Pyrmont region with the aim to involve them in co-created art/culture-focused community initiatives that aim at creating stronger links with the local community. The Artful Inclusion Project is underpinned by a socio-cultural perspective that seeks to empower groups outside the mainstream to produce art that raises social, cultural and political elements.
In this sense, two groups were formed and facilitated by two experienced artists who run a series of workshops with local participants over the course of 22 weeks. A group of women told their stories through a series of photos. In a second project, a group of men expressed their life stories through a puppetry story.
HOUP HUMANS OF ULTIMO & PYRMONT
As part of the upcoming UPtown Festival which has been planned by the Pyrmont Ultimo Network of Services (PUNS), the committee has created an extraordinary exhibition, featuring the faces and stories of locals.
As part of the festival theme ‘Our Stories’, the PUNS committee took the opportunity to share the different and diverse stories of members of the Pyrmont and Ultimo community, by inviting locals to take part in the Humans of Ultimo Pyrmont photography project.
Borrowing the portrait-style photography and storytelling of Humans of New York, this local instalment was created to bring together the local community, as a celebration of their shared history and connection to each other through place. The choice of venue for the Humans of Ultimo Pyrmont exhibition is also significant, as the Lord Wolseley Hotel has been a meeting place within the community for many years, becoming intrinsically entwined with the community and its diverse history.
‘THE SPIRIT OF PLACE’ MURAL
We acknowledge the Gadigal people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this mural takes place, and pay our respects to Elders past and present, and to the knowledge embedded forever in the Aboriginal custodianship of Country
“The Spirit of Place” mural theme is a vision come to life by renowned Mexican mural artist Alejandro Martinez ‘PEQUE’. It is a tribute to the stories of the Ultimo Pyrmont community. This commissioning artwork aims to guide the broader community into “The Spirit of Place”, by providing imagery through visual arts and inspiring the viewer’s imagination back in time. The aim is to walk on Country together, in mutual acknowledgment of the past, the present moment and our shared future.
The street mural is ready for the locals to enjoy before, during and after the festival, however, we have an additional art Installation that will be created live at festival day by artist Carlos Agamez at the end of the mural to continue “The Spirit of Place”.
FLASH MOB
As the theme of the festival is “Our Stories”, we acknowledge the traditional custodians and owners of the land on which the festival comes alive. It is the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The Aboriginal name for this area was ‘Pirrama’, which is still the name of a road on the Pyrmont waterfront, and we recognise the importance of preserving First Nations Peoples’ culture and song lines and unity of the diverse community through song and dance.
Milan Dhiiyaan, which means “One Mob”, has created a song and dance, the Festival’s anthem, representing the importance of Water and Fish to the local area. It is a tribute to the first inhabitants of Ultimo Pyrmont and the importance of unity, reconciliation, and our shared future. Through Milan Dhiiyaan’s flashmob, festival-goers will experience the song lines and dance traditions of the local First Nations Peoples.
MOSAIC WALL FRIENDSHIP AND BELONGINGS: FEELS LIKE HOME
Friendship and Belonging is a tile mosaic piece created by members of the Ultimo Pyrmont and gifted to the community at the 2017 UPtown Festival. This artwork represents a sense of place and belonging as expressed by the participants from Ultimo Pyrmont community. This work is the start of a long-term project that is an evolving artistic reflection and expression of Ultimo Pyrmont’s perceptions of itself. Future residents will have the opportunity to connect with and build on previous participants’ sense of place and spirit in Ultimo Pyrmont community.
The key themes expressed through the Chinese characters are Friendship and a sense of belonging.
Many thanks to those who participated in the creation of the work: residents of the Australian Nursing Home Foundation, Wyanga Aboriginal Aged Care, Fusion Cultural Group, and residents of Ultimo Pyrmont. This project has been facilitated with the assistance of PUNS, Ultimo Community Centre, Mustard Seed Church, Men’s Shed, Local Builder and resident Geoff Saunders and local artists Peter Dwyer and Lisa Bergan.
Ultimo Community Centre
Centre is Open 10am – 4pm
– Hoverball Archery
– Sports Open Day – Free court and equipment use
– Back-to-Ultimo
– Ultimo Historical Society
food stalls
– Blue Eyed Dragon, dumplings
– Crust Pyrmont, pizza
– Per Kilo, a taste of South America, Colombian food
– The Rotary Club of Sydney Darling Harbour, sausage sizzle
– Ultimo Public School P&C, gelato and lemonade
– Fleur de Lys Patisserie, pastries and crepes
– Casa Pancorbo, paella and churros
– Waffle on a Stick, potato on a stick and waffles
special guest
clover moore
MC
Luke Carrol
Proudly brought to you by
the Pyrmont Ultimo network of services (puns)
Established in March 2016, and incorporated in July 2017
PUNS mission is to work collaboratively to improve coordination of programs and services to Ultimo Pyrmont community and enable more effective and efficient use of available resources.
As a newly-established coalition of key community stakeholder organisations, PUNS actively reached out and listened to the concerns of its community.
PUNS developed an action plan and resolved to revive UPtown Festival, acknowledging its historical importance in local community building, and as a keynote event for the precinct.
PUNS wishes everyone a happy and enjoyable 32nd UPtown Festival
partners
Ability Links NSW (St Vincent de Paul Society)
ACAP
Christmas in Pyrmont
City West Housing
Ethnic Community Services Co-operative
Heartdancers Charity
Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre
MustardSeed Ultimo Uniting Church
Pyrmont Cares
St Barnabas Church
Ultimo Community Centre
Uniting Harris Community Centre
UTS Shopfront Community Program
supported by
special thanks to…
This list of names form only 41 pieces of a jigsaw of hundreds, and we extend our gratitude to the faceless heroes, artists, suppliers, and festivalists in the community who helped make today possible. We look forward to designing the UPtown puzzle with you in 2018.
Production
Oscar Sanchez, Jane Le, Victor Ekama
Technical Director
Diego Ruiz
Artistic Direction
Sandra Morales, Anita Kroess
Administration
Raphael Hung
Community Engagement
Rosalind Hecker, Antonietta Natoli
Accessibility
Andrew Boerma
Stalls
Mandy Mailey, Peter Devoy, Jon Simpson,
Nerida Michell, Carina Jakobsen
Finance
Rene McKenzie-Low, David Rice
Marketing & Communications
Rene McKenzie-Low, Bridgette Donnellan,
Jack Singleton, Robbie Rogulj
Festival Program
Miriana Salinas
Graphic Designer
Carlos Agámez
Videographer
Raul Vallejo, Colin McKinnon, Alessandra Pecci
Photographer
Raúl Ortiz de Lejarazu Machin,
Rebecca Fitzgerald
Volunteer Management Team
Lisa Anderson, Anshu Sinha,
Rosie Catalano
Artful Inclusion
Goetz Ottmann, Bianca Rizzo, Luiz Gubeissi,
Janine Yang, Emily Small, Chioma Chukwuma,
Ayode Olufemi
Community Partners
David Owen, David Gore
Aboriginal Cultural Advisor
Millie Ingram, Milan Dhiiyaan