Festival promises in- tents experience
A TOWNSVILLE doctor facing rape charges is expected to make a bail application next week.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on March 23 and charged with eight counts of rape and a domestic violence offence of attempting to pervert justice.
He is also charged with four counts of breach of bail conditions.
Police will allege one of the rapes was committed against a patient inside a medical clinic in 2012. The matter will next be mentioned on April 13. LUXURIOUS travelling entertainment tents have popped up in Townsville for the first time to host local, national and international acts as part of Festival 2018.
Workmen have been busy piecing together two historic “spiegeltents” from Victoria and South Australia to accommodate Commonwealth Games Festival 2018 events in Queens Park.
Mayor Jenny Hill said the tents, known as travelling dance halls, provide an intimate and unique entertainment experience.
“It’s really like a little popup venue and it’s a great atmosphere the moment you walk in the old- style pub – that’s literally what you’ve got here as part of this spiegeltent,” Cr Hill said.
“It’s a great way to hold an intimate show – you wouldn’t fit more than at best a couple of hundred in here but the idea is that you’d be very close to the performers.”
It is the first time the famous spiegeltents have been brought to Townsville.
“As part of the Commonwealth Games we’ve bought not one but two Spiegeltents,” Cr Hill said.
“This tent is actually used predominantly around Australia for some of the big festivals, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Port Douglas Carnivale and we’re now using it.”
The tents will host musical acts including Lior, Diesel, Archie Roach and Ian Moss and comedian Peter Helliar.
Local performers such as Dance North and burlesque group Le Cabaret Revue will also feature in the spiegeltents as part of Festival 2018.
“The idea of this is really about a festival, it’s about performing arts, it’s about visual arts with Uncontained – it’s about bringing not just national and international ( talent) but also including a lot of our local people here as part of this,” Cr Hill said.
She said it was a great opportunity for locals to experience performances inside the wooden travelling tents, which are originally from Belgium, and decorated with mirrors and stained glass.
“People who have travelled to Adelaide and some of the other events have seen these before. It’s the first time we’ve had them in Townsville,” she said.
Cr Hill said she was excited to attend as many acts as she could.
“I’m a big fan of Diesel and Ian Moss – the first time I saw Ian Moss was when I was at uni, ( he was) playing with Cold Chisel.”