Ready to celebrate the Cross

With Kings Cross in the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons, Acting Premier Andrew Stoner was on hand this week to officially launch the inaugural Kings Cross Festival which many hope will remind locals and visitors of all that is great and wonderful about the area.

Alongside Stoner for the launch at the El Alamein Fountain in Fitzroy Gardens on Tuesday morning were Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Potts Point Partnership chairman Adrian Bartels, the festival’s artistic director Ignatious Jones as well as newly-elected Sydney MP Alex Greenwich.

To run across five days from November 21-25, the El Alamein Fountain will serve as the festival’s hub with a large stage to be set up to showcase performances from the likes of Gypsy caravan troupe Lolo and Australia’s legendary ‘queen of soul’, Renee Geyer.

“I congratulate the residents and retailers who have united to organise this truly grassroots festival celebrating the character of the Cross,” Stoner said.

“The five day event will show Sydneysiders and visitors alike what this unique part of our city has to offer”, Mr Stoner said.

“The creativity of the Cross will be on show, with talented locals curating the very best of fashion, food, art, literature and music.”

Other festival highlights include a free ‘Good Neighborhood BBQ’, a series of talks by the name of ‘Writers & Whiskey’, and live performances traversing blues, jazz, swing, folk, cabaret and plenty of other genres in between that will take place in various bars, pubs and cafes throughout the precinct.

Moore said the festival would highlight the strong sense of community and neighbourhood pride in the inner-city village.

“I am sure residents and visitors will enjoy festival highlights such as the Art Walk, which links the area’s historical, artistic and architectural sites; the curated shop window display; and the Seaside Picnic for families at Beare Park,” Moore added.

Bartels said it was exciting to see so many talented locals involved in the new initiative.

“For a hundred years Kings Cross has always pushed the boundaries of what is meant to be contemporary … from 1920’s female crime bosses, through the acceptance of post war immigrants, and onwards to the 1960’s sexual liberation,” he said.

“Now we are writing the next chapter.”