Mountain Writers Festival
Welcome to the inaugural Mountain Writers Festival. Australia’s first writers’ festival to focus exclusively on the environment, with the theme: Place Story Nature. Find out what’s happening on the festival weekend of 4-6 November by visiting our full program at www.mountainwritersfestival.com.au.
Mountain Festival Program Launch 2024
Thursday 10 October 2024
Australia's only festival to focus on the environment and natural world is back November 22-24. Be the first to hear the 2024 program which boasts literary luminaries, climate scientists, twitchers, actors, and a menagerie of local and interstate guests.
Operating under the forever theme of Place. Story. Nature. Mountain Festival celebrates storytelling and connection to Country with panel discussions, in-conversations, play performances and fully immersive nature workshops and talks.
Launch attendees will have early, exclusive access to tickets.
Mountview Mount Players Theatre
Nature journaling workshop with Jane Rusden
Friday 22 November 2024
Explore the grounds of Duneira Estate with artist Jane Rusden examining the plants, insects and birds found in the Estate's gardens. Jane will run a nature journaling workshop incorporating sketching, deep observation and elements of citizen science. Embedded in Jane Rusden’s passion for wilderness and love of adventure is a strong conservation consciousness. This class is limited to 12 participants.
Duneira Estate
Zero-waste lunch with Jo Barrett
Friday 22 November 2024
Enjoy a three-course, zero-waste lunch at Mount Monument Winery and a conversation with The Age Good Food Guide's 2024 Chef of the Year, and one of Australia’s most innovative chefs Jo Barrett (Sustain). A pioneer in sustainable cooking, Jo Barrett will join Mary Gearin in conversation to chat futurefoodsystems, her career as chef and sustainable food systems over estate-grown wines, and a unique fine dining experience.
Jo Barrett in conversation with Mary Gearin
Includes a three-course, zero-waste lunch and wine
$149 pp.
Book a table of 8 for $1100.
Mount Monument Winery
Welcome to Country, Welcome to Mountain Festival 2024
Friday 22 November 2024
Begin Mountain Festival weekend with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony conducted by Wurundjeri Elders, followed by performances from beloved First Nations poets Jeanine Leanine (Gawimarra: Gathering), and Evelyn Araluen (Drop Bear). Hear from festival director Sonia Orchard, enjoy a glass of wine, and settle into the weekend to the tunes of Pirritu.
Jubilee Hall
Jubilee Hall Weekend Pass
Friday 22 November 2024
Your Jubilee Hall Weekend Pass grants you access to Mountain Festival’s biggest events in Jubilee Hall. See Bob Brown, Robbie Arnott, Gina Chick, Paul Bangay, Tim Rogers, Bruce Pascoe and so much more with one Jubilee Hall Weekend Pass.
This ticket grants you access to all events happening in Jubilee Hall. Events at Mountview Theatre, workshops in Middle Gully and at Duneira, and the Mount Monument Winery luncheon sold separately.
Jubilee Hall
Botanical Art Class with Sarah Hankinson
Saturday 23 November 2024
Learn how to draw, sketch and paint beautiful botanical art with Sarah Hankinson (Art Class: Flowers and Foliage). Using an array of botanicals as inspiration, you will be guided through simple foliage exercises and more structured botanical art projects. Sarah's practice blends traditional and non-traditional approaches to still life drawing—no experience in drawing or illustration is required. Suitable for beginners who want a taster in drawing, and intermediates who want a different take on their creative processes.
Duneira Estate
Saturday Jubilee Hall Pass
Saturday 23 November 2024
Your Jubilee Hall Saturday Pass grants you access to Mountain Festival’s biggest events in Jubilee Hall, all of Saturday 23 November. See Gina Chick, Bob Brown, Joelle Gergis, Bruce Pascoe, Lyn Harwood and so much more with one Saturday Jubilee Hall Pass.
This ticket grants you access to all events happening in Jubilee Hall on Saturday 23 November. Events at Mountview Theatre, workshops in Middle Gully and at Duneira, and the Mount Monument Winery luncheon sold separately.
You can add a ticket to our opening night Welcome to Country / Welcome to Macedon with Evelyn Araluen, Jeanine Leane and Pirritu for just $15 (half price) at check out.
Jubilee Hall
Sunday Jubilee Hall Pass
Sunday 24 November 2024
Your Jubilee Hall Sunday Pass grants you access to Mountain Festival’s biggest events in Jubilee Hall, all of Sunday 24 November. See Robbie Arnott, Paul Bangay, Valanga Khoza, Tim Rogers and so much more with one Sunday Jubilee Hall Pass.
This ticket grants you access to all events happening in Jubilee Hall on Sunday 24 November. Events at Mountview Theatre, workshops in Middle Gully and at Duneira, and the Mount Monument Winery luncheon sold separately.
Jubilee Hall
CLOSING GALA - How to Save the World in 90 minutes
Sunday 6 November 2022
Comedian Tom Gleeson leads a panel for the last 90 minutes of the festival with the small task of solving the world’s environmental problems. Can’t be that hard can it? Panel guests include Tim Flannery, Sarah Wilson, Tyson Yunkaporta, Claire G Coleman, Costa Georgiadis and Anjali Sharma.
Sponsored by Gisborne Bendigo Bank
Annie's Hall, Macedon Railway Hotel
DAY PASS - MOUNTAIN WRITERS FESTIVAL Sunday 6 November
Friday 4 November 2022
Includes all Sunday author sessions and Sunday Night Closing Gala. Day Pass ticket holders are also welcome to join the bushwalk on Sunday morning but please register for this as places are limited.
Sunday 6 November 2022
Jubilee Hall
WEEKEND PASS - MOUNTAIN WRITERS FESTIVAL 2022
Friday 4 November 2022
Includes Festival Launch on Friday night, all author sessions on Saturday and Sunday, Sunday morning bushwalk and Closing Gala on Sunday night. Does not include the Ash Wednesday play reading on Saturday night which requires separate ticket purchase. Please reserve your places at the Friday Night Festival Launch and Sunday morning bushwalk if you would like to attend these, as places are limited.
Friday 4th November 2022 to Sunday 6th November 2022.
Jubilee Hall & Macedon Railway Hotel
A Life of Environmental Activism
Sunday 6 November 2022
Anna Krien speaks with Peter Garrett about his incredible life of environmental activism and the role activism, politics and the arts can play in creating positive, lasting change.
Partnered with The Wheeler Centre
Jubilee Hall
Trouble in the Outback
Sunday 6 November 2022
Kate Holden, Tyson Yunkaporta and Joshua Kemp discuss how Australia’s colonial history and methods of land management create a lingering darkness in the landscape and consider what remedies might let the light in, facilitated by Billy Griffiths.
Sponsored by Australian Book Review
Jubilee Hall
For the Love of Gardens
Sunday 6 November 2022
Why do we have gardens? Why do we love them? What has Covid taught us about the importance of a garden? Much-adored gardening advocates Costa Georgiadis and Hannah Moloney are in conversation with Jacinta Parsons.
Sponsored by Macedon Nursery
Jubilee Hall
SUNDAY MORNING BUSHWALK
Sunday 6 November 2022
Join much loved Macedon local Bushy (AKA Ben Bush) on Sunday morning for a one-hour leisurely stroll through the Macedon Regional Park and along the ‘res’ to get some air in your lungs before the author sessions kick off for the day. Friendly dogs on leads welcome. Meeting place — Jubilee Hall foyer. Free for festival ticket holders, but bookings are essential as places are limited.
Sunday 6 November 8 - 9 AM
Jubilee Hall
The Big Room
Saturday 5 November 2022
Ash Wednesday Play Reading, starring Shane Jacobson, Nadine Garner, Angourie Rice and special guests.
Written by Kate Rice
Directed by Peter Houghton
Commissioned by the Macedon Ranges Literary Association, this event will feature the first readings of an 'in development' play to commemorate the night of Ash Wednesday nearly 40 years ago, when 300 residents and their animals took shelter in the Macedon Railway Hotel (formerly Macedon Family Hotel) as the bushfires raged outside. The audience will watch the development of the play in action as the script is fine-tuned for its big stage debut in 2023. Recommended for viewers aged 12 and over.
Sponsored by Macedon Ranges Shire Council
Saturday 5 November 8 PM
Please note there is an additional reading for locals prior to the festival, please contact the event organiser if you wish to attend.
Annie's Hall, Railway Hotel Macedon
Crisis, Cure & Hope
Saturday 5 November 2022
Professor Tim Flannery OAM and Dr Joëlle Gergis discuss our environmental past, the present crisis, and consider what a hopeful future might look like, facilitated by Emeritus Professor Tom Griffiths AO.
Jubilee Hall
DAY PASS - MOUNTAIN WRITERS FESTIVAL Saturday 5 November
Friday 4 November 2022
Includes Friday Night Festival Launch and all Saturday author sessions. Does not include the Ash Wednesday play reading on Saturday night which requires separate ticket purchase. Day Pass ticket holders are also welcome to join the bushwalk on Sunday morning, but please register for this as places are limited.
Saturday 5 November 2022
Jubilee Hall
There's No Place like Home
Saturday 5 November 2022
Locked in and locked out. In a globalised world of mass movement, migration, stolen land and exile, Arnold Zable, Claire G. Coleman and Pirooz Jafari discuss how they create a sense of belonging and what home means to them, facilitated by Meg Mundell.
Sponsored by Deakin University
Jubilee Hall
Finding Peace and Purpose in the Wild
Saturday 5 November 2022
Claire Dunn speaks with climate campaigner Sarah Wilson about mental health and improving one’s wellbeing through fostering greater connection with nature and maintaining an environmentally conscious lifestyle.
Sponsored by PanMacmillan
Jubilee Hall
Writing Country
Saturday 5 November 2022
Two remarkable and versatile First Nations writers whose output is suffused with the concept
of ‘Country’. But what does that mean, and how do they do it? With Evelyn Araluen and Aaron Fa’Aoso, facilitated by Declan Fry.
Partnered with Blak&Bright
Jubilee Hall
The Big Trip
Saturday 5 November 2022
Barefoot Investor Scott Pape and beloved children’s book author Alison Lester AM share stories of traveling off-grid with their families and what they learnt about Australia and themselves along the way, facilitated by Astrid Edwards.
Jubilee Hall
FESTIVAL LAUNCH - Writers, Wine and the Weekend
Friday 4 November 2022
Whether you're a volunteer, festival speaker, local festival ticket holder or from out of town on your spring weekend away in the Macedon Ranges, we invite you all to join us for a casual meet-up at Annie’s Hall, Macedon Railway Hotel. It's been a long bumpy road bringing this festival to life, so on the eve of the launch, we could think of nothing we'd rather do than sit at our local pub and celebrate what we've managed to achieve, thank all who have helped us get this far, and raise our glass to the weekend ahead. Entry is free, but please book your ticket on our website. Drinks at bar prices.
Friday 4 November 6 - 8 PM
Annie's Hall, Macedon Railway Hotel
A MWF Lunch with Tony Birch, Evelyn Araluen & Tom Griffiths
Saturday 26 March 2022
The Mountain Writers Festival presents lunch with lunch with Tony Birch, Evelyn Araluen and Tom Griffiths, moderated by Sophie Cunningham AM.
You are invited to be a part of the conversation as these four renowned Australian writers discuss the intersection of story and place in our fragile natural world.
Hosted at The Wine Collective in Macedon as part of the Macedon Ranges Autumn Festival.
Take the Macedon Ranges Hotel and Spa turn-off on Black Forest Drive
The Wine Collective