Independent music and arts 'Sleepless Festival' to be staged in unconventional Melbourne venues

Footscray in Melbourne’s west will come alive after dark when independent music and arts 'Sleepless Festival' returns from 2nd to 18th May to celebrate the creativity and culture of its local artists.

Now in its fourth year, Sleepless Footscray Festival, supported by Maribyrnong City Council, will build on its success of previous years by staging art installations, film, performances, and immersive experiences in 16 underutilised and unconventional Footscray CBD venues, highlighting the suburb’s potential as a thriving arts community with a vibrant nightlife.

Alex Mansell, spokesperson for the festival noted “Sleepless Footscray is a celebration of the bold, the unexpected, and the deeply creative spirit of Melbourne’s inner west. This year, we’re transforming overlooked spaces into stages, galleries, and immersive worlds, inviting audiences to experience music and art in ways they never have before.”

Mansell added “Footscray has it all. From its diverse community to vibrant nightlife and cultural events, Footscray is Melbourne’s best-kept secret, hidden in plain sight.

“Investing in artists is investing in the future of our inner-west community. By offering artists funding to bring their work to life, we’re fostering a culture of bold expression and shared creativity that we hope will leave a lasting impact on Footscray and beyond."

21 of this year's artists will have their work funded through Sleepless’ Satellite Grant program, which will provide them with resources to develop and showcase their work. This co-production funding model ensures that artists have the financial freedom to fully express themselves while contributing to Footscray’s cultural and social transformation.

The Sleepless Footscray Festival 2025 program at a glance:

• An exhilarating descent into altered perception, immersive theatre production THE DOOR IN QUESTION will illustrate the vivid experience of living with mental illness. Spaces will shift when you’re not looking and corridors will stretch in unfamiliar directions as reality shifts beneath your feet.

• YEAR OF THE FREAK - A HOMECOMING will see Golden Scissor Puppets transform a derelict Footscray building into an immersive world of large-scale puppetry, live performance, and surreal installation: an ephemeral home for the strange, the absurd, and the otherworldly.

• Enter SKULLIES CINEMA for a movie night with fun films by Footscray’s giant Snuff Puppets, hosted by Skullie Empresario themselves.

• FOOTSCRAY CELEBRATES AFRICA: Celebrate the vibrant African cultures of Footscray with a day of free live music, dance and musical education. Featuring performances by Jarabi Band, Mandé Spirit, Seben Brothers, WALA is Life, and Stani Goma, plus vinyl-spun sets by a special guest DJ. Proudly presented by Sleepless Footscray, Afro Creative Corner, WALA, and Maribyrnong City Council.

• OLIVIA BRASIL will celebrate and honour women's voices and presence as songwriters and arrangers in Brazilian Popular Music, in an intimate, enchanting performance.

• Photo series THE EMPTY SEAT has captured abandoned chairs across Melbourne’s streets, each one a quiet reminder that even chairs get ghosted sometimes. It’s about presence, absence, and the untold stories hidden in urban spaces.

• UNTITLED BASEBALL GAME is an experimental narrative project centred around the culture of Melbourne’s Western Suburbs. Its story follows someone who formerly lived in Footscray and has spent several years abroad. The project begins with their return to Melbourne and their re-discovery of the culture of the Western Suburbs.

• WOMB is a mysterious and gentle tactile installation made with soft furnishings and low lighting. Part installation, meditation and immersive theatre experience, audiences are invited to go back into the warmth and safety of its walls once more.

• Post-punk troupe AD INTERIM will head west with their idiosyncratic brand of dissonance, and a unique selection of supports from around Naarm. Audiences can expect an evening of dark, experimental, underground music.

A registered charity, Sleepless’ long-term vision is to establish year-round arts programs that support diverse community groups, including youth, students, individuals experiencing socio-economic disadvantage, and people with accessibility needs. Donations can be made via the Sleepless website.

Sleepless Footscray Festival runs from 2nd to 18th May 2025 at locations across the suburb.

The full program can be found at sleeplessfestival.com. Some events are free and some are ticketed, and bookings are essential.

Images from top. Post-punk troupe AD INTERIM; Sleepless Festival Footscray Raga Saga Poster 2024; Sleepless Festival Footscray Snuff Puppets. Credit:Sleepless Footscray Festival