As winter enters its darkest weeks, Victoria's picturesque coastal town of Queenscliff launches its second incarnation of Low Light Queenscliff — a boutique fringe festival bringing the finest international and local arts, music and culinary talents in a celebration to stimulate the senses. Low Light will run across consecutive weekends in May and June, showcasing immersive art, performances and more. Think of it like Queenscliff Music Festival meets Dark Mofo (plus a bit of Burning Man). The town's public spaces, galleries, cafes, bars and restaurants will play host to a dazzling array of fringe-style art exhibitions (including Melbourne installation and miniature street artist Tinky), film premieres and screenings (like A Boy Called Sailboat, with the soundtrack played live by the Grigoryan Brothers at the Bellarine Lighthouse on Friday, June 28), spoken word and literary readings and eclectic musical performances. 

The pièce de résistance will be the planned, simultaneous burning of sculptures in the main streets on Saturday, June 22 — Winter Solstice Night. Other highlights will include the Queenscliff Music Festival concerts, featuring Dan Sultan, Archie Roach, Jen Cloher and Clare Bowditch, popular music documentary Her Story Her Sound screening, Winter Wonderland (a Queenscliff Harbour pop-up ice skating rink) and a winter-warming Japanese whisky masterclass at the Queenscliff Brewhouse. Degustation menus featuring locally foraged ingredients will be available to ease the bracing seas breezes as you explore a side of Queenscliff never seen before. And at just a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, Low Light can be enjoyed as a day trip, long weekend or returning adventure.

Low Light events feature every Friday through Sunday across May and June. To view the full program and book tickets, visit the website.

First image: Cameron Robbins.