Wide Open Space (festival)

Wide Open Space (WOS) is a music, arts and culture festival in Central Australia, in the Northern Territory. It has taken place annually from 2009 to 2018, and then in 2021. It features well-known national acts as well as emerging artists from the region,^[1] It takes place over three days at the Ross River Resort in the McDonnell Ranges, around 80 km (50 mi) east of Alice Springs.^[2] Around 1500 people attend the festival each time.^[3]^[4]

The festival is known for its unusual programming, such as pairing a local choir, Alice Sings, with the famous Australian rock band Regurgitator to perform their song "Song Formally Known As" in 2018,^[5] while in 2017 jazz/funk band Hiatus Kaiyote invited Kardajala Kirri-darra (Sandhill Women) to sing with them.^[6]

Vice suggested in 2015 that WOS was perhaps "Australia’s best-kept festival secret", calling the location "breathtaking" and the festival an "honest, real and bullshit-free Central Desert experience".^[7]

Its artistic director Scott Large sees the festival as a "community-generated event that wanted to promote and foster local talent" which helps keep Indigenous languages alive.^[8]

References

^ "History". Wide Open Space Festival. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ "NT Festival Wide Open Space Unveils 2016 Dates & Details". The Music. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ Rajher, Jennifer; Willson, Julia (24 April 2014). "Wide Open Space: Zeitgeist goes bush". Alice Springs News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ Howie, Tamara (27 April 2016). "Options Wide Open". NT News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ O'Neill, Bianca (11 February 2021). "The History of Australia's Most Unique Festival: Wide Open Space". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ Moss, Ronja Honey (1 May 2017). "Open to those wide spaces". Alice Springs News. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ Keogh, Kris (8 April 2015). "Wide Open Space: Australia's Best-Kept Festival Secret?". VICE. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
^ Campbell, Claire (30 April 2017). "Keeping culture alive at Wide Open Space music festival". ABC News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[hist-1] "History". Wide Open Space Festival. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[2] "NT Festival Wide Open Space Unveils 2016 Dates & Details". The Music. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[3] Rajher, Jennifer; Willson, Julia (24 April 2014). "Wide Open Space: Zeitgeist goes bush". Alice Springs News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[4] Howie, Tamara (27 April 2016). "Options Wide Open". NT News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[rs2021-5] O'Neill, Bianca (11 February 2021). "The History of Australia's Most Unique Festival: Wide Open Space". Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[6] Moss, Ronja Honey (1 May 2017). "Open to those wide spaces". Alice Springs News. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[7] Keogh, Kris (8 April 2015). "Wide Open Space: Australia's Best-Kept Festival Secret?". VICE. Retrieved 29 August 2021.

[8] Campbell, Claire (30 April 2017). "Keeping culture alive at Wide Open Space music festival". ABC News. Retrieved 29 August 2021.