Marking its 21st anniversary Noosa Alive! kicks off 10 days of performance, song, theatre, literature and food at venues across Noosa Shire today with a sold out hinterland producers’ lunch at Kin Kin, the Seaside Vibes Music Festival on Main Beach and a world premiere Queensland Ballet performance this evening.
This year guests will see exciting new acts to the festival and welcome popular performances returning to the delight of audiences.
Queensland Ballet returns to Noosa Alive! with a high-energy and vibrant performance.
Showcasing a vision of Queensland Ballet’s future, the gifted Jette Parker Young Artists will perform two breathtaking works choreographed by Paul Boyd, Queensland Ballet Academy ballet master and resident choreographer, and Matthew Lawrence, Queensland Ballet’s ballet master.
They will transport the audience to the majestic Highlands of Scotland with Paul Boyd’s Tartan, a brand-new contemporary piece inspired by a suite of Scottish music. Noosa audiences will be the first to see this compelling work before it features in Queensland Ballet’s Brisbane Bespoke season this year.
Singer, songwriter, performer and artist, Kate Ceberano will headline at Alive in the Woods, an eight-hour show of music and entertainment hosted by Damien Anthony Avery-Rossi on 29 July.
In 2023 Kate celebrates 40 years and 30 albums in one of the most enduring and inspirational careers in Australian music.
Her 30th album, My Life Is A Symphony, is a celebration of her songwriting, featuring her most iconic songs, Brave and Pash, and personal favourites from across her four-decade recording career.
Kate’s 11 platinum albums, 10 Top 10 singles and countless awards speak for themselves. But it’s over 8000 performances on every concert, theatre and festival stage in the country and beyond that her unassailable distinction was forged.
With her record-breaking run with John Farnham in Jesus Christ Superstar circa ’92, perhaps or her hit TV show of the mid ‘90s, her 2014 induction into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, or her Top 5 album of 2021, Sweet Inspiration, Kate was a force of nature from day one.
Noosa Stars Alive! will also feature at the event, showcasing the talents of Sunshine Coast youth aged eight-18 in a battle for first place.
Noosa Alive! welcomes back Cirque Bon Bon for their encore performance on Tuesday 25 July at The J Theatre.
With two performances, a 5pm show suitable for the children and a 7:30pm show with a little more of a risqué script, Cirque Bon Bon Encore will be a crowd pleaser featuring new acts sprinkled with some original favourites jampacked into one 60-minute spectacular that is guaranteed to entertain and astonish.
Former creative director from Cirque Du Soleil, Ash McCready has teamed up with world renowned director/choreographer Julieann Nugent known together as AJ Creative, return to Noosa to present a boutique cirque, dance and comedy experience unique for NOOSA alive!.
Cirque Bon Bon Encore is a jaw dropping, spine tingling spectacle that fuses mind bending contortion, death defying feats of strength and precision, diverse technical dancers that have toured the world, comedy and acrobatic skill that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
Truly a night to remember on Main Beach will be Tenori Opera Under the Stars.
Tenori combines the talents of three of Queensland’s powerhouse singers, David Kidd, Stewart Morris and Andrew Pryor, who will serenade guests with a repertoire of much-loved opera, music theatre and popular classics as they enjoy a sit-down two-course dinner on 23 July.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see the internationally renowned Australian Chamber Orchestra for a special, one-night-only performance on 27 July at The J.
Artistic Director Richard Tognetti will lead the ACO through a characteristically diverse program that moves from beloved works by Mozart and JS Bach to songs by Randy Newman and US-German musician Kurt Weill, featuring Principal Violin Satu Vänskä on vocals, before rounding out the performance with Dvořák’s sublime Serenade for Strings.
Jazz singer Megan Washington has teamed up with one of Australia’s most distinguished musicians Paul Grabowsky for an exclusive performance and night to remember at The J Theatre on 26 July.
For a great lineup of entertainers on the beach, you can’t go past the Seaside Vibes music festival which kicks off Friday and Saturday night under the marque on Main Beach with world class musicians including Raw Ordio, Bobby Alu and Rob Edwards.
There are a feast of fabulous literary event this festival including a newly announced literary breakfast at Noosa Springs, on Monday 24 July, with 14-time Walkley award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie.
He’s the author of Crossing the Line – the inside story behind the Ben Roberts-Smith headlines and an explosive expose and testament to the power of investigative journalism.
In 2018 Ben Roberts-Smith, one of Australia’s most decorated war heroes, sued Fairfax Media in response to a series of articles published by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times, written by journalists Nick McKenzie and Chris Masters.
What followed was dubbed the defamation trial of the century. McKenzie and Masters set out to prove that the allegations of murder, bullying and intimidation published were substantially true and that Roberts-Smith was not defamed. Roberts-Smith denied it all.
In a landmark judgement, Justice Besanko recently delivered a win for Fairfax Media Publications, dismissing the proceedings and ruling that the newspapers had proven the substantial truth of the majority of allegations against Robert-Smith.
Breakfast with Dr Norman Swan, author of So you want to live younger longer, at Noosa Springs, Golf and Spa Resort on Friday 28 July.
The ultimate guide on what you can do at any age to stay young and healthy longer, from Australia’s trusted, straight-talking doctor and broadcaster, Dr Norman Swan.
Join Anna Funder in conversation on Thursday 27 July at The J Theatre in Noosa, regarding her new book Wifedom– Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life. Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century.
And don’t miss lunch with Sophie Green on Tuesday 25 July at Whisky Boy in Noosaville for an exclusive preview of her new book, Weekend with the Sunshine Gardening Society to be published on the 23 August. Set in Noosa, the book is a warm, uplifting story of female friendship, community and new beginnings from the top 10 bestselling author of The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle and The Bellbird River Country Choir.
For the final act of the festival in Noosa Woods on 30 July join sensational singing siblings Vika and Linda Bull who have enchanted Australian music fans for the past three decades with their effervescent performance and effortless harmonies.
There’s plenty more to please all tastes at the festival.
Noosa Alive! began as the Noosa Long Weekend Festival started by playwright David Williamson and his actor wife Kristin Williamson with a group of friends in 2002 and eventually rebranded to Noosa alive!
It continues to be run an incorporated association, registered as a not for profit organisation, governed by a voluntary management committee and dependent on the generous efforts of its many volunteers and sponsors.
For information on all the events and bookings, visit noosaalive.com.au
