Live Review: Newtown Festival

For the 37th annual Newtopia-themed festival celebrating live music, food, art and culture, education and all 'round creativity, Newtown Festival took over the entire Camperdown Memorial Rest Park in order to raise funds for the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre. As volunteers with collection buckets handed out stickers to every donator walking through the gates, rows upon rows of market and food stalls were filled with crowds and booming live music could be heard echoing from the main stage.

Food trucks selling everything from Turkish gozleme, to Spanish paella, handmade baklava, vegan wraps and whole fresh coconuts lined the grassy hills beside the children's jumping castle and one of the many live music stages. Following the morning's notoriously adorable dog show, canines of all shapes and sizes walked about with their owners while crowds of people wandered through stalls selling hand-drawn caricatures, crystals and stones, handmade Mexican Day Of The Dead themed jewellery, Japanese pin-up themed art prints and screen printing lessons.

Tucked away in the back corner of the festival was Better Read Than Dead's Writers' Tent, bringing in a collection of authors and wordsmiths and featuring the Humans Of Newtown photography book showcasing the stories of the vibrant, eccentric individuals of the community-focused inner west suburb. Situated next door was the cosy, festival-standard chai tent complete with oversized rugs, beanbags and masala chai.

Independent, non-for-profit local radio station FBi held a bake sale run by the station's volunteers and the pathway leading down to the main stage was jam-packed with punters rummaging through stalls of second hand vintage clothing, beach wear and handmade knick-knacks. The festival's music headliner, unique Sydney-based "African-inspired dreamy folk pop" band Jinja Safari rounded out the ultimate Sunday afternoon in the park with their signature offbeat, multi-instrumental sound and a high energy performance.