What a great start to spring in West End!
The Roller Derby opened the season with a pinch and a punch for the first of the month. Hundreds of residents lined the streets to celebrate all things wheeled. Residents wheeled contraptions and derby day outfits brought an air of celebration to the street.
Exhibitions of Bicycle Polo complemented the races and other competitive events while the dulcet sounds of local entertainers provided a Derby soundtrack. The block between the Vulture and the Lizard was pumping with excitement from 2 until 5pm.
The West End Community Association (WECA) did a great job of bringing the creative residents of the ‘hood out into the sunlight for a fun, family day.
From then on, for the next fortnight, West End played host to a large number of the Brisbane Fringe events. Box Vintage, the Loading Dock, Black Star, Mondo Organics, Xango Capoeira, Jet Black Cat Music … the list is long and illustrious.
This was the fortnight that 4101 flounced, stalked and strutted with burlesque, cabaret and circus as the artists, musicians and literati of our community put their best works forward.
Two weeks later and the block party brought thousands of visitors to Boundary and Mollison, providing a big bass backing to a sunny Sunday on the café strip. Over twenty bands on three stages poured on the tunes to close the Brisbane Fringe Festival. The Mouldy Lovers, Ginger & the Ghost, Bankrupt Billionaires and Kafka wrapped up proceedings on the Mollison Stage, while the Sunday Sessions, Fred Band, Smoking Martha and Lords of Wong took the Loading Dock stage to dizzy heights. The conspiracy stage lent itself to a slightly more intimate vive with Astar, Fat Picnic, Ladi Abundance and Mamachair polishing off a full day.
Jess Latham and her magic crew pulled together the production, the Boundary Hotel and the West End Community Association played a major role in getting the block party up and running and a long list of local businesses backed the event.
By getting together behind the community and being seen to be involved those businesses got a great boost, not just in business on the days when there were thousands of locals and visitors in the streets, but in terms of their profile as well.
For some of them that is still paying dividends today.