Festival of Small Halls to revitalise local venues in Tasmania

Having proved a popular initiative in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, The Festival of Small Halls is currently touring small halls in Tasmania.

Aiming to breathe new life into small rural town halls in seven communities across Tasmania, the Festival of Small Halls is bring music and dance from touring national and international artists, with roots and folk musicians from Australia and abroad, including Melbourne's Liz Stringer and Canada's The East Pointers.

The 10-day long event is featuring performances at St Margaret's Power Station village hall near Queenstown, the theatre in the Wynyard Wharf Hotel, and the Bagdad Community Hall in the southern midlands.

Organiser Erin Collins said it was hoped the festival, which is being held in Tasmania for the first time, would create a "long-term relationship" with the communities involved.

Collins told the ABC “we want to get people back into that old fashion way of using a hall for a bit of a shindig, (because it is) a really lovely idea.

"It's a social event for a small community, we're not interested in just bringing an act in and walking away."

The concert this Saturday (23rd January) at St Margaret's Power Station village hall in Queenstown has already sold out.

The facility is the oldest operating hydro-electric power station in Australia and a landmark on the west coast.

Collins said that like other halls along the tour, some local innovation has been required to get the venue concert-ready.

She commented “we're going into Lake Margaret, which is actually an abandoned village, (and) we've been discussing how we can make some sort of stage in this hall, which doesn't have one anymore. It's pretty basic

"(With) other halls, we've had to be creative about the type of electricity we need for sound systems."

Collins hopes the event, which is expected to draw about 1,500 people from around the state, would encourage local councils to maintain and upgrade facilities at the halls.

Fiddle player Tim Chaisson from The East Pointers was Artistic Director of Festival of Small Halls on Canada’s Prince Edward Island, where the idea for this festival sprang from.

Chaisson said the festival helped put tiny town halls and their communities back on the map adding “a lot of work has been done to the halls since the festivals first started, some of the halls couldn't afford to have a sound system, and some of the things that were decrepit about the halls, they've been revived.

"Now some of the halls will put on more concerts throughout the year and make more use of the halls.

"I think it's good for everyone, everyone benefits from it."

The not-for-profit event is produced by the Woodford Folk Festival.

Organisers plan to work closely with the local councils, which will underwrite the event, and will also give locals the opportunity to run stalls at various performances.

For more information on The Festival of Small Halls go to www.festivalofsmallhalls.com/

Images (from top): The Festival of Small Halls, Dairy Plains Town Hall, Longford Town Hall and entertainment returns to the Sulphur Creek Town Hall (images 2 to 4 courtesy Rick Eaves).

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