5 reasons to attend SPARK Ipswich

SPARK Ipswich will celebrate people, places, arts and culture of Ipswich...
26 Jun 2022
Discover Ipswich, Staff Writer

SPARK Ipswich, is an 11-day city-wide event celebrating the people, places, arts and culture of Ipswich.

The 2022 program will deliver up a fresh program of festival content.  Music, comedy, arts, exhibitions, circus, projection, culture, cabaret, technology, collaboration and discussion will take over the City.

SPARK will run from Thursday July 7 to Sunday July 17.

SPARK After Dark

deLight, St Mary's Catholic Church Ipswich

When the sun goes down, SPARK After Dark comes to life showcasing projections, light activations, music and performance. Gather your family and friends and explore deLight over 11 nights at St Mary’s Church and pixel at 1 Nicholas Street on foot, or view the light spectacle from luminate – the new festival hub in Timothy Molony Park.

Once again local artists’ work will be projected onto the front of St Mary’s Church during deLight, see work from artists including Kylie Hill, Jacob Sarra, Jarryd Lawton and Jennifer Kent.

Pixel will explore the human-machine connection with an immersive light experience from the University of Southern Queensland’s’ Design and Interactive Technologies team.

And Luminate will see music, dance, bands and roving performers each night of the festival, as well as having food offerings and a great vantage point to see both deLight and Pixel.

See SPARK After Dark from Thursday July 7 to Sunday July 17 from 6pm-9pm at Timothy Molony Park – entry is free.

Little Day Out

Little Day Out

Ipswich’s signature children’s contemporary music and arts festival is little by name but BIG on fun. With a focus on sustainability, Little Day Out is bursting with music, hands-on art experiences, food and roving entertainment.

Regurgitator’s POGOGO show headlines the main stage with their witty, silly attitude and musical mash-up of funk, pop and rock.

Feisty trio Babushka want to break rules, sing killer tunes and show the next generation how to be rascals, radicals and ratbags. Prepare to spike your mohawk and fight for your right to party!

The young and young at heart are invited to sing, dance, create and play! Seedling planting, boomerang painting, tiny tots zone and a silent disco are all part of the Little Day Out experience. 

Tickets to this one-day only event on July 17 is $5 per person, children under the age of 10 will receive a bucket hat.

Waghorn to West 

Pink Matter – 15

Music lovers will be spoiled for choice, with 16 artists taking over four live music venues along Brisbane Street, between Waghorn and West Streets, for a one-night epic indie live music crawl!

Experience the best of what the Queensland music scene has to offer alongside some of Ipswich’s most exciting up and coming musicians.

Catch everything from electronic, rock, R&B, soul, rap, hip-hop, folk, dance and pop as you move between Circa 160, Goleby’s Basement, Ipswich Central Hotel and Studio 188.

Artists this year include Bugs, Lisi, Greta Stanley, Wiigz, Asha Jeffries and many more.

Waghorn to West runs July 9, buy a wristband for $25 to gain entry to all gigs.

SPARK on Tour

SPARK on tour A Bee Story with Arc Circus Company

SPARK Ipswich is hitting the road, taking the festival fun to small halls across the region.

In A Bee Story we find ourselves in a sticky situation. Queen Bee & Worker Bee need to work together to rebuild their hive, but things never quite go to plan…

A Bee Story is a uniquely Australian physical theatre show for children and families incorporating a kaleidoscope of circus, acrobatics, dance and live music. Join the bees on their buzzy adventures and be enchanted by their pollen collecting skills, honey-making abilities, and super-bee strength. A Bee Story has themes of environmentalism, sustainability, and community spirit. The show is directed by performer Robbie Curtis (Circa, Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz, Australian Ballet), and co-created with musician and performer Lizzie McRae.

See what all the buzz is about on July 7, 8, 9 and 10 at Ripley Valley State Secondary College, Goodna State School, Bundamba State School and Rosewood State High School.

The cost to attend Spark on Tour is $5 person or $15 for a family of four.

WOMI

Mircha Mangiacotti Quartet will perform at WOMI

Featuring music from across the globe WOMI (World Music Ipswich) is a one-day world music festival showcasing and celebrating the vibrancy of Ipswich and South East Queensland’s culturally and linguistically diverse community.

The event will run on Sunday July 10 at Main Street, Orion Springfield Central from 9am-4pm and is a free event.

Bursting with life, light and colour, WOMI also features multicultural food and artisanal market stalls, and brilliant Brazilian dancers, African Drummers and Vietnamese Lion roving entertainers.  

Performing on the day will be:

Dheeraj Shrestha Trio
East of West
Eddie Gazani
Estampa
Jaider de Oliveira and Brendan Hook
La Vinola
Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra
Mircha Mangiacotti Quartet
MZAZA
No Way José
Sambaliscious
Sasta
Shansheel Arabic Music Ensemble
Tibet2Timbuk2
Yugara Dancers
Zhiva Voda
Zumpa

pixel_3

Also on during SPARK Ipswich is:

Illuminations: Camerata Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra: French Chic meets British refinement in a performance of classic works by Elgar Debussy and Britten.

Bunkasauraus: Two clowns are continually distracted from the serious work at hand and use a blend of puppetry and silent comedy to create and entertaining theatrical universe, steeped in imagination and creativitiy.

Monster Seige: Sport for the non-sporty and arts for the non-arty.  A fictional quest, where kids star as the best versions of themselves.

Sound the Horn: Waghorn to West’s music industry development event, empowering you to ask questions, develop networks and gain access to experiences music industry specialists.

Boyd Meets Girl: Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd with American cellist Laura Metcalf perform songs of love and despair.

Peter and the Wolf: Ipswich City Orchestras present this light-hearted symphony telling the irreverent story of a young boy named Peter, who joins a menagerie of animals to outwit a fierce wolf.

The Babushka Book Club: Be entertained by a wickedly funny cabaret as Babushka turns your best loved novels inside-out and colours them various shades of grey.

Spirit of Place – Here, There and Everywhere: An exhibition of new work by much loved local indigenous artist Sally Harrison.

25 Years Ipswich Art Gallery Foundation: An exhibition of an eclectic range of artworks – from heritage to contemporary – acquired by the Foundation of it’s 25 years history.

 

Discover Ipswich Staff Writer
Rocky the Rock Wallaby is a Sagittarius who lives at the Ipswich Nature Centre and often contributes to Discover Ipswich in his spare time. When he's not busy showing tourists around, blogging or hanging out with his cute and fluffy mates at the Nature Centre, he likes to hit the gym for a leg session, graze on quinoa salad and ponder the possibilities of the universe.

Things to do

View more things to do

Tell your story

Got something special you’d love to see highlighted via Discover Ipswich? A new attraction, perhaps, or a restaurant or a venture that people are travelling for? Share your story with us so we can share it to the world!

Send Email