The Unconformity

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The Unconformity (formerly the Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival) is an arts festival held in Queenstown, Tasmania in Australia.

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Held on the West Coast, the festival is a biennial event. Elements of the festival capture a change in the fate of Western Tasmanian communities, where mining ventures and other industries are reduced and population declines, but where the heritage and legacy of the communities remains.

History

2012 event

The 2012 event included events and exhibitions which commemorated the centenary of the 1912 North Mount Lyell Disaster, with enactments that echoed the events of 1912. [1] [2] [3] [4]

The West Coast Wilderness Railway was involved in the 2012 celebrations, with a re-enactment of transporting victims to the Queenstown cemetery. [5]

Tasmanian artists have utilised old buildings and space in Queenstown for working with their artworks. [6]

The Friday forum at the Queenstown RSL "North Lyell Mine Disaster Forum" included Geoffrey Blainey. The wide range of sponsors for the festival include local businesses such as the historic Empire Hotel. [7]

2014 event

The event was held again in 2014. [8] [9]

2016 event

The festival changed its name to The Unconformity [10] and was held on 14 and 16 October, [11] [12] [13] [14] with a substantial crowd at the opening events. [15] [16]

The grand finale of the festival is a football match on the Queenstown Oval. [17]

2018 event

The second event with the new name was held in October 2018. [18]

2020 and 2021 event

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 event was postponed until 2021. The 2021 event was cancelled the day it was due to start as that day Tasmanias' southern region of 11 LGAs, went into a 3-day lockdown at 6pm. It was triggered when a man with the Delta variant escaped from hotel quarantine and was moving about in the community, before police located him the next day. [19]

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References

  1. ↑ Bryan, Selina (12 October 2012). "Mine disaster remembered - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Abc.net.au. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Bryan, Selina (18 July 2012). "Queenstown to mark mining disaster centenary - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Abc.net.au. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Marking a mining disaster". TAS: Open.abc.net.au. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival (Tas.); Hicks, Peter, (performer.); Da Vida, Alma, (performer.); Simon de Little Digital Video Production (production company) (2013), Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival 2012, 12-14 October : centenary of the North Lyell Mine Disaster, [Queenstown, Tasmania] Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival, retrieved 24 May 2016{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Selina Bryan (12 October 2012). "A steam train re-enacts the funeral procession for miners killed at Queenstown in 1912. - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  6. ↑ Elizabeth Lord. "Reflecting on mining town". Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Queenstown, Tasmania". The Empire Hotel. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival (Tas.) (issuing body.) (2014), Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival : no ordinary place. no ordinary festival, [Queenstown, Tasmania] Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival, retrieved 24 May 2016
  9. ↑ Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival (Tas.) (2010), Festival programme, Queenstown Heritage & Arts Festival, retrieved 24 May 2016
  10. ↑ "Product".
  11. ↑ "Home". theunconformity.com.au.
  12. ↑ Lehman, Ros; Gibson, Sallese (31 August 2016). "Arts festival drills down to heart of Tasmania's mining west coast". ABC News.
  13. ↑ "Arts festival seeks cooler customer". The Mercury. 12 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Home - Tasmanian Times". 21 August 2015.
  15. ↑ Howarth, Carla (15 October 2016). "Queenstown's the Unconformity arts festival helping reshape mining region". ABC News.
  16. ↑ "7AD 98.9FM Devonport - 7AD". Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  17. ↑ http://theunconformity.com.au/events/grand-finale-unconformity-cup/Grand Finale – The Unconformity Cup - Queenstown Crows Football Club
  18. ↑ "The Unconformity 2018 | pictures, photos". 20 October 2018.
  19. ↑ "Hobart region enters three-day lockdown after COVID hotel quarantine breach". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
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