Summersalt

Overview

Just when you thought Melbourne's festival calendar couldn't get any more packed, Summersalt springs into town. From January 23 - February 21 next year this monumental outdoor arts festival will be bringing you giant inflatable whales, artsy bouncy castles, roving street theatre, artworks exclusively for dogs and more. With all events taking place around Southbank and most being completely free, it's safe to say, your summer is looking just that little bit more sunny.

Summersalt is the baby of all our best cultural institutions. MTC, Malthouse, ACCA, Melbourne Recital Centre, Arts Centre, VCA, Chunky Move, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Australian Ballet and the NGV will all be involved and it's the first kind of Melbourne event that has such high levels of collaboration. The recently announced Sugar Mountain Festival will be run in collaboration with the festival as will next year's White Night.

Though the full lineup is yet to be released, what we've seen so far is definitely exciting. If you didn't catch Architects of Air's much-loved EXXOPOLIS at the Glow Winter Arts Festival, it will be back in town after its run at MONA FOMA, or you can opt to get cosy in the belly of a whale or check out the biggest human puppet in the world if you're up for something new (and slightly terrifying). This interest in large-scale, outdoor works is no coincidence — the whole aim of the festival is to draw in new audiences. Come for the giant inflatable whale, stay for the art.

Some theatrical favourites from the past year will also be making a welcome return in the form of Malthouse's Blak Cabaret and MTC's Cybec Electric series of cheap play readings. The highly-acclaimed, intimate Cherry Cherry (A Dining Room Tale) will also be back in action as Neda Rahmani invites you over for a BBQ. This theatrical program is looking much stronger than the musical offerings; aside from the glorious Sugar Mountain Festival, not much has been released aside from the always beautiful MSO sessions at Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

There are also a couple of odd, miscellaneous works which really stand out from this first round of events. Asking audiences to sleuth through the city and hunt down clues, Sour Times is a wholly interactive work that leads you along secret trails with the help of a special smartphone app. Or, if you'd rather bring along a furry friend, Anastasica Klose will be setting up the Farnsworth Republic for Dogs in the ACCA Forecourt. An off-leash play area of activities and luxury dog beds, the site will complement Menagerie, her new exhibition inside exploring the connection between humans and dogs.

Get your calendar out now and start counting down the days. Not only is the start of the year going to be beautiful and sunny, it's going to be full of roving dogs and giant puppets. Bring it on.

Summersalt Outdoor Arts Festival will run from January 23 - February 21. Read more at their website.