From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's your host Sam Colley.
Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness and low vision.
I think it's incredible. You know, we've really created a safe and welcoming space. We're giving opportunity to those people that may have never been to a festival, never seen live music before. And, you know, one of the biggest takeaways that I find we go through is every year we increase our accessible features that we have on site. You know, we don't try and do everything all at
once in the first year. We build on them year on, year on year to make sure that we're getting them correct and ensuring that why we're putting them on on site is working for those that need it.
Welcome to the program. This week we catch up with Ashley O'Gara, event manager from untitled Group, who's in charge of Ability Fest, an inclusive music festival designed to be as accessible as possible for both spectators and musicians with disabilities. That conversation's coming up very shortly, so make sure to stick around. And then after you hear from us, it's my great pleasure to welcome back a regular of ours on Talking Vision. It's Liz Dalakouras, the editor of Foyer Information,
otherwise known as FYI. And then to wrap up this week, we hear from Frances again. She's back with a reader recommended. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode of Talking Vision. Over the month of October. Music lovers in Melbourne and now Brisbane will be able to head along to Ability Fest, Australia's first and only completely inclusive music festival, striving to promote inclusivity and highlight the talents of musicians with disabilities.
Here to chat with me all about Ability Fest. It's my great pleasure to be joined by the Event Manager of Ability Fest from untitled Group, Ashley O'Gara. Ash, welcome to Talking Vision. Thanks so much for your time.
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.
Today we're here to chat about Ability Fest. So could you tell us a little bit about the festival?
Of course. It's a festival. A music festival like any other. We have two stages. Incredible lineup this year. Big, big thing for us is that we have more accessibility features on the ground than any other festival in the nation. We really pride ourselves on having accessibility at the forefront of our minds. And yeah, it's a great day out. We're creating really safe space for people with all abilities to come down. We've opened it up to 16 plus
this year. Um, so we're really excited to see, you know, the next gen come through and really enjoy their day.
And ash, I believe there's quite an interesting story about how Ability Fest was created involving none other than Dylan Alcott. So yeah. Could you tell us a bit about how that got off the ground?
Of course. So the lovely Dylan Alcott, he is really passionate about music and experiencing it live. He sat down with untitled group directors, and they were in complete support of his vision for a music festival that raises money for the Dylan Alcott Foundation. So it's raising money for young Australians with disabilities and making sure that they can have the resources and education that they need in order to achieve their goals.
Well, that's a fantastic initiative, ash. I'm very keen to get back to that later in the interview. But firstly, could you tell us a bit about untitled Group? Our listeners might be wondering who are they? What are they all about?
Of course. So we are promoters and we run the likes of Beyond the Valley, Wildlands, grapevine. So the group started with the four directors, and they have a real passion for music and events, and they've grown into an incredible company. And we put on some of the best events and festivals that Australia has ever seen.
Okay, cool. Love the confidence there. But in regards to the event that we're talking about today, Ability Fest. Tell us a bit about the lineup. There's quite a few exciting people out there. Quite a few artists and a lot of them also with lived experience of disability. So that's a fantastic aspect of that. To have all these people in one place and highlighting the great work and the talents of so many disabled artists out there.
Absolutely. So we this year we're actually branching out and hosting Ability Fest in Melbourne and Brisbane. So that's the first time that we've done that. We have incredible lineup for both shows. We've got the likes of Ocean Alley, Cub Sport, James James, James, Crybaby. We've really tried to
support our local artists as well. So we do have a lineup that differs between Melbourne and Brisbane, but we've tried to really highlight our local artists in both states and of course backing those that have accessibility requirements as well. It's such an incredible day. I definitely vouch for anybody to come on down, buy a ticket and come and support and really experience live music.
Now on that topic, ash of people heading along, heading down and buying a ticket. Let's get a few details about Ability Fest. Now, you've already mentioned that it's over two states this year, so it's the first time that that's happening. So you know that's quite exciting. So that's Melbourne and Brisbane. Let's grab some of the details around the dates and times and where exactly in those cities the festival will be taking place of course.
So in Melbourne it's at Alexandra Gardens, smack bang in the city. It's on Saturday the 19th of October. Both shows will run from midday until 10 p.m. at night in Brisbane. It's the following Saturday, so Saturday the 26th of October and we're actually hosting at Victoria Park in Herston. Both are very close to public transport. We do have parking options. They're very central.
Yeah. Okay. Now, ash, let's have a chat about the ticket prices for people to head along, both in Melbourne and Brisbane for the entire day. That's $60 across the board. Or are there other sort of prices as well that people can have a look at? No.
So this year we wanted to make a really conscious decision to ensure that we're not only making the festival itself accessible, but we have an inclusive ticket price of $60. And last year, for example, our tickets were, I think, roughly about $100 more. And but we wanted to have a really big focus in building out our budget this year and wanted to make it our top priority to keep the ticket price as low as we possibly can. Yeah, so no tiered pricing. It's just $60.
Ah that's fantastic. And no doubt included in that ticket price. There would be the usual bits and pieces that people can expect at a music festival, you know, food and drink activations and all that sort of thing, but also quite a few accessibility features which made mention of earlier in the interview. So tell us a little bit more about those.
Of course. So we are working with commercial partners and our sponsors at the moment to create more activations on site. So we'll have a glitter station. We'll hopefully have a temporary tattoo station, potentially somewhere we can get massages. The opportunities are endless at the moment. We obviously have an increased amount of accessible features on site, as I mentioned earlier, so we'll have changing places, we'll have viewing platforms, flooring.
We're working on a silent disco at the moment, so you can hire from us or get your hands on a haptic vest for those that are deaf or hard of hearing so they can feel the music, and then you'll have headphones as well. We partner with Bindi Maps, which is the navigational app, which is an incredible app that we have. Yeah, we've got some really exciting things this year and I think people will be very surprised, which will be very exciting.
Yeah, sounds super exciting for sure. And just back on that ticket before, and I did want to talk about this because this is great. 100% of the proceeds are donated to the Dylan Alcott Foundation. Now that's a fantastic initiative. Has that been the case all the way through, all through the iterations of Ability Fest, or is that more of a recent thing?
No, that's always been the goal of Ability Fest. So I think we've raised so far about 1.5 million.
For, oh my God.
Dylan Alcott Foundation. That's fantastic.
Yeah, that's a fantastic result.
Yeah, definitely. We've been going. I think this will be our sixth year that we've put on Ability Fest. So yeah, all proceeds go towards the young Australians with disabilities.
Wow. But in order for that sort of thing to be possible, the festival has grown no doubt over the last six iterations. So what's that been like seeing it get off the ground? Those, you know, 6 or 7 years ago up to the festival it's become now.
It's incredible to see from the first iteration to where we are now. We've really delved in and tried to challenge ourselves with the temporary festival sites that we do choose. You know, we ensure that we provide a challenge to ourselves to make sure that we can show other festivals
and events how to do it best. You know, we push the boundaries on what an inclusive festival site looks like and encourages other event organisers that want to come down, and they want to learn a little bit more about accessibility. We're providing that guidance for them as well. I think it's incredible. You know, we've really created a safe and welcoming space. We're giving opportunity to those people that may
have never been to a festival, never seen live music before. And, you know, one of the biggest takeaways that I find we go through is every year we increase our accessible features that we have on site. You know, we don't try and do everything all at once in the first year. We build on them year on, year on year to make sure that we're getting them correct and ensuring that why we're putting them on on site is working for those that need it. Yeah, so it's definitely been so rewarding.
It's been a massive learning curve for us over the
six years, and we've learned so much. We find it so important that we take our learnings from ability first and incorporate it into our other festival and events that untitled Group does, and make sure that we are the market leader in accessibility, and definitely proving a point to other event organisers to get on board and, you know, make an industry standpoint and guide other events on how to become more accessible and why they should become more accessible as well. It's so important.
You've mentioned opportunities in there for quite a few festival goers to head along and Experience this sort of festival in an accessible way, but I want to go to the other side of that and have a chat about the artists themselves. And, you know, this is such an important opportunity for artists out there with disabilities to showcase their talents and really show the world what they can do,
you know? So why are these sort of events like Ability Fest so important for the disability community and artists out there with lived experience of disability?
The biggest thing is providing a space. It's giving people the opportunity to one, as mentioned, you know, those that may have never been or seen live music before, and especially those artists that have lived with disability, they potentially may never have the opportunity to be on a stage and showcase their talents to the world. You know, we're we're giving them a platform in order to do that, and we're supporting them. We're behind them every step of the way.
Let's get some details about how people can register. How can they pick up a ticket? Or maybe they just want to find out a little bit more about Ability Fest. What's the best way for people to do that?
Of course, I definitely encourage people to go to either ability Fest on their socials, or jump on the internet and jump onto our Ability Fest website. We do have a Melbourne and a Brisbane toggle that you can go and access. There's so much information on there. We're working on an accessibility guide at the moment as well, so you'll be able to download that. We do have tickets still available. Definitely encourage people if you are going to
get a ticket get them whilst you can. Yeah. All the information you'll need is on the website and you can have a look at the lineup and check out the artists. Any FAQs? They'll be on there as well.
And ash, let's get that web address in particular for people to check out the Ability Fest Test website.
Yeah. So its ability facecamo. And then yeah you'll toggle between Victoria and Queensland wherever you are.
That website again for people out there. Ability fest all one word.com dot a u okay. Well I've been speaking today with Ashley O'Gara from untitled Group. Joining me today to tell us all about the upcoming Ability Fest, which people can enjoy on consecutive weekends in both Melbourne and Brisbane over the month of October. Ash, great to catch up with you today and have a chat all about Ability Fest. All the best and look forward to seeing how it all goes.
Thank you so much! It's been lovely chatting. Speak soon.
I'm Sam Kelly and you're listening to Talking Vision. On Vision Australia Radio associated stations of the Radio Reading Network and the Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed that conversation there with ash O'Gara from untitled Group in the lead up to Ability Fest, taking place in October. If you missed any part of that conversation with ash or you'd love to hear it again, Talking Vision and the
associated interviews will be available on our podcast feed. Or you can access the show through the Vision Australia Radio website at RVA radio.org. That's RVA radio.org or through the Vision Australia library. Coming up now to celebrate the new month as we head into September, it's my great pleasure to welcome back a regular of ours on Talking Vision. It's Liz Dalakouras, the editor of For Your Information, otherwise known as FII vision, Australia's fortnightly newsletter covering all the
latest news in the blind and low vision community. Liz, welcome back to Talking Vision. Thanks so much for being here.
Thank you for having me back, Sam.
Now, there's quite a bumper edition of FYI this month for people to check out and find out a little bit more about what's going on around Australia. So let's head up to New South Wales first with some election news. Those local elections aren't far away, but there's some good news there on the accessibility front for voters who are blind or have low vision.
Yeah, there definitely is. It's quite an addition. You're right. It's been announced that there's now telephone assisted voting for the New South Wales local government election. So that makes voting as someone who is blind or low vision a lot easier. You can visit the Elections New South Wales Gov website for more information.
That is really pleasing news to hear. Those phone options are available for voters who are blind or have low vision. So tell us a little bit about the New South Wales local elections and voting by phone in this particular instance, and how people can cast their votes that way.
Yeah. So the New South Wales local government elections are being held on Saturday the 14th of September. And for these elections, the telephone assisted voting is available for electors who are blind or have low vision. It's a two step process. So you call the New South Wales Electoral Commission to apply, and then you either stay on the line or call back to cast your vote, and you'll be transferred to the voting operator after applying. Super simple.
That does sound pretty user friendly, but of course people can get in touch with the commission if they do encounter any issues. There have been some improvements there, so that's quite good to hear, but let's go a bit further north, heading up to Queensland. Now, could you tell us a bit about a series of accessibility upgrades which
have been rolled out across the train network up in Brisbane? Um, that's fantastic news for passengers who are blind or have low vision to get around the network a little bit more safely and accessibly.
Absolutely. It's such an important topic. There has been leads and some changes made to the accessibility upgrades on their trains, so that's very exciting because now the Queensland train fleet is now among the most inclusive in all of Australia, with all 75 new generation rolling stock trains fully upgraded for accessibility. The trains are now servicing the South East Queensland network and coincide with the six month trial of
50 cent fares. The upgrades were completed by Diana and additionally supported 80 local jobs in Maryborough and elsewhere.
There's been some news with Ben Pettengill. He's been up to quite a bit lately. So tell us a bit about that.
We've had who we've spoken to many times ourselves Ben Pettengill. He's taken on the challenge to run 3000km to help raise funds for a counselling service. So being blind and low vision himself and still wanting to help others, it's just an amazing story.
Certainly is. And we love chatting to Ben, as you've mentioned. So I think a lot of people will be very keen to hear about that one. But there's also quite a few things going on closer to home. There's a morning tea that's being set up.
Yeah, absolutely. So the Honourable Lizzie Blandthorn, the Minister for children, has invited blind and low vision parents to share their experiences on raising children aged less than 12 years old. Just head down to the Flemington hub in Flemington, where morning tea will be provided. You can bring your kids and you get to talk directly to Lizzie on your thoughts on education. The service gaps and ways to enhance support for your family. It's a great opportunity.
And Liz, there's quite a lot of stuff happening in the world of audio description as usual. But tell us a little bit about one of the really exciting premieres for people to look forward to. Well, it's.
Very exciting to say that we have a world premiere heading our way in New South Wales. That's right. So the Queen. Yeah, the Queen's nanny super well known and love story is coming to the Ensemble Theater in Kirribilli in New South Wales. So you don't want to miss this one. That's being audio described.
There's quite a few audio description offers out there. So if people want to hear a little bit more about audio description, there's plenty of info on the Vision Australia website. Vision australia.org. That's Vision australia.org. And if you just search up audio description you can find out a lot more about that and all the other offers, including the Queen's nanny, as we've mentioned there. Now, we've talked to Jason about
our new podcast that's just kicking off Mindful Minutes. Tell us a bit about that.
Basically, it's a wellbeing podcast. It's a seven part series designed to support the wellbeing of older Australians who are blind or have low vision, and through these episodes we explore the emotional impacts of vision loss. We share personal stories, highlight the importance of social wellbeing, mindfulness, staying active and practicing self-care all guided by experts and those experts we
have here at Vision Australia. But also we spoke with the CEO of Mindspot Australia and the CEO of Grief Australia. So there is just some simply amazing information in that podcast series.
Oh yeah, that sounds like it's got something for everyone. So we do look forward to hearing from people out there when they've had a listen to the podcast and you know what? They've gotten out of it and the sort of feedback they might have. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing how that all goes. Now. Finally, Liz, we've got a couple of other exciting things happening in
the children and young people space. With the opening of the Leap programme for 2025, for Expressions of Interest, we have a chat about that with, um, Belinda Wilson from the Children and Young People team a little while ago on Talking Vision a week or two ago, but yeah, tell us a bit about that.
Yeah. So leap it's it's actually a very exciting programme because it's tailored for young people who are 14 to 18, so about to finish high school or towards the end of high school, ready to begin the career. And Leap helps to foster essential life skills and confidence with their future successes in life. So to be able to empower young people with independence and confidence that they need to just hit life head on is amazing and the activities
are driven by the participants themselves. So straight up they're learning responsibility both at home and in the real world. So it's a great program.
We've also got some other amazing news that's very exciting with the new launch of the foyer Information sign up page. Tell us a bit about that exciting news. How can people access that?
Yeah, it's very exciting. It's something that's been in the works for a little while. So again, some very exciting news you can now subscribe to FYI super simply just visit our website Vision Australia. Org and search sign up to FYI in the menu bar. Pop in some details and every fortnight you'll get this newsletter directly to your inbox.
There's also another way that you can access all the information about FYI. Simply head to Vision FYI that's Vision australia.org/fyi to sign up and find out more information about. For your information, I've been speaking today with Liz Dalakouras, the editor of For Your Information, otherwise known as FYI, the fortnightly newsletter from Vision Australia, with all the latest news of particular interest to the blind and low vision community. Liz,
thanks so much for your time today. It's great to catch up with you and chat all about FYI.
Not a problem at all. I agree, I always look forward to these chats.
And now here's Frances Kelland with her radar recommended.
Thank you Sam. It has been 60 years since Mary Poppins first hit our cinemas, so I thought it'd be good to have a sample of Julie Andrews book home, her memoir. Over the years, Julie Andrews has been much interviewed in the press and on television, but she has never before revealed the true story of her childhood and upbringing in home. She vividly recreates the years before the movies. An idyllic early childhood in Surrey was cut short when
her parents divorced and her mother remarried. The family moved to London and there are vivid scenes of life during the Blitz. Her mother went into musical theatre with her stepfather, who encouraged Julie to have singing lessons, which led to the discovery that her voice had phenomenal range and strength for someone her age. Before long, she was appearing on stage with her parents. She soon realised how much she enjoyed looking out into the black auditorium with the spotlights
on her. By the time she was a teenager, she was supporting her whole family with her singing. A London Palladium pantomime led to a leading role in The Boyfriend on Broadway at 19 parts in My Fair Lady opposite Rex Harrison and Camelot with Richard Burton, soon followed, and there are wonderful anecdotes about the actors and actresses of her day. But this is far more than a collection of show stories. Home is an honest, touching and revealing
memoir of the early life of a true icon. Let's hear a sample of Home by Julie Andrews, narrated by Julie Andrews.
I am told that the first comprehensible word I uttered as a child was home. My father was driving his second hand. Austin seven. My mother was in the passenger seat beside him, holding me on her lap as we approached our modest house. Dad braked the car to turn on to the pocket handkerchiefs, square of concrete by the gate,
and apparently I quietly, tentatively said the word home. My mother told me there was a slight upward inflection in my voice, not a question so much as a trying of the word on the tongue with perhaps the delicious discovery of connection, the word to the place. My parents wanted to be sure they had heard me correctly, so dad drove around the lanes once again, and as we returned,
it seems I repeated the word. My mother must have said it more than once upon arrival at our house, perhaps with satisfaction or relief, or maybe to instill in her young daughter a sense of comfort and safety. The word has carried enormous resonance for me ever since. Home.
So that was home by Julie Andrews. If you would like to borrow that book, or if you would like to find out more about Vision Australia Library, just give them a call on 1300 654 656. That's 1300 654 656. Or you can email the library at Vision Australia. Org that's library at Vision Australia, dawg.
And that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you. So please get in touch any time on our email at Talking Vision. At Vision australia.org. That's talking vision or one word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's Sam Collins saying bye for now.
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during business hours on 1300 847 406. That's one 308 474106 or by visiting Vision australia.org. That's Vision australia.org.