A brand new festival is coming to Melbourne this September, with La Mama Theatre launching the inaugural HOPE PUNK Climate Festival, a three-week celebration of independent performance, conversation and creativity centred on climate action.
Running from 1 to 20 September, the festival embraces hope as an active force for change, inviting artists and audiences to engage with one of the defining issues of our time through theatre, live performance, discussions and free community events.
Festival organiser Dora Abraham said the event aims to create space for meaningful conversations at a time when many people feel overwhelmed by the scale of the climate crisis.
“HOPE is a radical concept these days,” Abraham said. “In HOPE we find action. Without it, apathy drives the collective, and despair shuts down the dialogue. We need to stoke the fires of these important conversations, and artists are well-placed to shape them in fascinating, engaging ways.”
The program features nine headline productions exploring climate, community and the future, including DOPPELGÄNGSTER’s Cold War 2.0, Susan Bamford Caleo and Elissa Goodrich’s Pulse, Nelipot Collective’s Our Last Tree and Megan Herbert’s Soapboxed.
Alongside the theatre program, audiences can experience a packed schedule of free events and creative activations designed to spark discussion and collaboration. Highlights include a major opening night party, the La Mama EMERGE final show, site-responsive performances from La Mamica, P+ERL panel discussions, new play readings through SCRATCH and activations in La Mama HQ’s forecourt.
With tickets priced from just $10 to $35, plus a wide range of free events, the HOPE PUNK Climate Festival offers an accessible opportunity to experience new Australian work while taking part in conversations about climate, community and collective action.
The festival runs across the first three weeks of September at La Mama Theatre in Carlton.
For the full program and tickets, visit https://lamama.com.au.
