Burnie Arts Council Inc
Celebrating 75 Years!
2023 marked the 75th birthday of Burnie Arts Council Inc (BAC). We believe BAC is the oldest continuous running regional arts organisation in the country.
It is an achievement of which the whole Burnie community can be extremely proud.
The celebration in late October involved a jam-packed weekend of activities. See the galleries below!
At the heart of the program was a focus on the extraordinary arts alumni the city of Burnie has produced over the past 75 years.
With support from the Burnie City Council and with assistance from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund - supporting the arts in regional and remote Australia - we were able to bring a handful of alumni home to share their talents, once again, with their hometown.
Birthday Events
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Gala Concert
Burnie comedian Josh Earl to MC, world premiere of the Dream Burnie Municipal Band featuring accomplished Burnie musical alumni Van Walker, Will Hindmarsh and Zane Lindt, Justin Heazlewood (aka as The Bedroom Philosopher), Wendy Moles and Nic Hart, David Turner and the City of Burnie Brass Band.
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Pre-show Soirée
A celebration of Burnie’s deeply-rooted creative community, with guest speakers and a spine-tingling look at some of Burnie’s most memorable cultural events.
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Rooftop Concert
On the same day that Paul McCartney happened to be performing in Melbourne, Burnie will had its own version of the Beatles rooftop concert. The middle floor of the Kmart carpark never looked so cool. Saturday morning shoppers were delighted and surprised by the full-blown, pop-up entertainment!
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Arts Wall of Fame
There are so many alumni we couldn’t fit them all on the bill – so we made a wall! Around 150 fantastically talented people ‘grown by Burnie’ were featured.
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One for the kids
The Friday prior to the concert, the Dream Burnie Municipal Band and Josh Earl performed lunchtime gigs at Hellyer College. All were once aspiring young creatives hanging out in the same cafeteria.
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What came after...
Dream Burnie - Justin Heazlewood's book which takes a deep dive into around 20 of Burnie's creative alumni.
Burnie Creatives- Featuring 300 Burnie Creatives, this coffee table book documents the people who make up Burnie's rich artistic community.
Name Change! - Burnie Arts Council served the organisation well for over 75 years... but times change, and so must we!
