Introducing the wonderful Sarah!

Sarah is a talented artist and Ballarat local who got involved with Frolic after entering the Art Show last year (she also took out the Frolic Committee Art Prize!). Sarah is working with Renee to help coordinate our wonderful volunteers during the festival and is also part of the Art Show working group this year.

Read our interview with her below.

Sarah on a rock… somewhere definitely not in Ballarat.

Preferred first name: Sarah

Pronouns: She, her

How do you identify? Bi/queer

Describe yourself in 25 words or less: A Tasmanian-born, FNQ-raised easygoing femmo lefty intellectual with terrific hair who mainlines Earl Grey, adores dressing up, and believes that mostly Things Just Work Out.

Outside of Frolic, what are you most passionate about? Art, storytelling, connection and feminism. I’m an artist/copywriter/academic/PhD student. I’m working (slowly!) on a creative feminist fairy tale project through Deakin University.

How did you become involved in Frolic? I entered the art show last year, then became a volunteer earlier this year.

Why are you involved in Frolic? I think it’s important to be as visibly queer as possible, if you safely can. Especially in regional areas. I want to show my kids difference is possible and should be celebrated. I absolutely have a “gay agenda”, in my own quiet way: to disrupt damaging gendered hetero-normative social conventions at every opportunity! But I also got involved because Frolic is super fun and I like having a good time.

What do you love about Frolic? The amazing friends I’ve made.

What do you hope for Frolic’s future? Bigger and better, onward and upward!

Favourite past event and why: Kids bush dance last year. It was so freakin cute. Also I’m really into cowboy boots.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival? There’s so much on! The art show, the bush dance, carnival day. Mostly I’m looking forward to Ballarat being a bit more rainbow for a week.

Pitch a fantasy event for Frolic in the future: Horseriding with wine. Or a costume party. Or! A queer Kryal Castle costume rave party WITH horses AND wine!!

Tell us about your relationship with Ballarat: Borderline evangelical. I’ve lived here for eight years. It’s the best, and I spend a lot of time trying to convince other people to move here.

What do you love about Ballarat? How beautiful it is, everywhere you look. And the seasons. And my crew of beloved human beings.

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Thanks so much Sarah for sharing your story! Part of connecting the local LGBTIQA+ community is getting to know and celebrating its individual members. We’ll continue to share the stories of our volunteers in further updates!

Have you ever thought about getting involved in Frolic Festival as a volunteer? More info here: https://frolicfestival.org/volunteer/

Meet the other Jay in our next Frolic Volunteer profile!

Jay is the next volunteer we are profiling as part of our Frolic Festival profiles. No, you’re not seeing a double post! This is the OTHER Jay that volunteers with Frolic.

Jay joined the Frolic Volunteers just before last year’s festival and is on our Art Show Working Group. Read our interview with her below.

Jay in her steam punk look at Frolic Cabaret during Ballarat Winter Festival.

Preferred first name: Jay

Pronouns: She, her

How do you identify? Lesbian

Describe yourself in 25 words or less: A crazy creative being! I love meeting people, spontaneous adventures and helping out wherever I can.

Outside of Frolic, what are you most passionate about? Art! Creating awesome things with phenomenal people is what my world thrives on.

How did you become involved in Frolic? I was lucky enough to have moved over from WA just in time to help out with Frolic in 2018.

Why are you involved in Frolic? To meet, create, and have fun with people in our community!

What do you love about Frolic? The variety of people and the stories everyone brings.

What do you hope for Frolic’s future? For the festival to grow and continue to allow a safe space for those who need it.

Favourite past event and why: The Cabaret nights! They just blow me away every time with acts, courage of performers and being able to help bring them to life for everyone.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival? Performing my very first Drag King act!

Pitch a fantasy event for Frolic in the future: UV Party!

Tell us about your relationship with Ballarat: I was born in Ballarat and have finally moved back from WA after 7 years.

What do you love about Ballarat? The buildings and little quirks that hide around the city.

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Thanks so much Jay for sharing your story! Part of connecting the local LGBTIQA+ community is getting to know and celebrating its individual members. We’ll continue to share the stories of our volunteers in further updates!

Have you ever thought about getting involved in Frolic Festival as a volunteer? More info here: https://frolicfestival.org/volunteer/

Meet Max, Frolic volunteer

Frolic Volunteer Profile – Max

Max (and Maxene!) are an absolute delight and unmissable whether down the street, at an event, or in a parade. Max joined us earlier this year after attending one of our Frolic Volunteer information sessions. Always an ideas man, he keeps us on our toes with the grandiose ideas he has for Frolic. It’s been so great to have Max involved.

Get to know Max a little bit more by reading his interview below!

Volunteer Max in one of his legendary drag outfits!

Preferred first name: Max (or Dame Maxene)
Pronouns: He/Him (Dame)
How do you identify on the LGBTIQA+ spectrum? Gay (drag queen)

Describe yourself in 25 words or less:
Max is like our rainbow: black – mindful; brown – grounded; red – passionate; orange – fruity; yellow – bright; green – earthy; blue – uncontained; purple – spiritual

How did you become involved in Frolic?
Attended one of the Frolic Volunteers information sessions earlier this year.

What attracted you to becoming involved?
I liked the Frolic Ball and I’m community minded (editors note: Max also had an incredible outfit for the Ball too!)

What do you love about Frolic?
It’s in Ballarat!

What do you hope for Frolic’s future?
More community involvement.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival?
The Carnival Day will be a real highlight with what we have been planning.

Outside of Frolic, what are you most passionate about?
My metropolitan community church in Melbourne, lawn bowls, and my crocheting.

Tell us about your relationship with Ballarat:
I have been here approximately 4 years. I have lived up and down the East coast of Australia, spending 20+ years in Central Queensland (when it was illegal to be a homosexual in QLD), where I became one of the elders of our community. I was even awarded an Oscar from Queens Ball for “Best Individual Costume”; and the “Julia Potts Award” for Glbtiq+ Community Service.

What do you love about Ballarat?
I like the historical atmosphere and ambiance it has. It is also close enough to Melbourne for regular commutes.

If you want to volunteer with Frolic Festival visit: https://frolicfestival.org/volunteer/

Meet Evelyn, a new Frolic volunteer

Frolic Volunteer Profile – Evelyn

Evelyn is a recent arrival to Ballarat and we’re so glad she chose Ballarat when deciding to escape Brisbane (though we understand it’s been quite the adjustment temperature-wise!). Already jumping in to help out as a Frolic volunteer you may have met her during the Ballarat Heritage Weekend where she warmly welcomed people to the queer history exhibition and made sure they left with a Frolic Festival Save the Date flyer in their hand.

Get to know Evelyn a little bit more by reading her interview below!

Evelyn, Frolic Volunteer, dressed as a drag king

Preferred first name: Evelyn
Pronouns: She
How do you identify on the LGBTIQA+ spectrum? Queer

Describe yourself in 25 words or less:
Ailurophile, Philosopher, Academic, Drag King, Artist, Stand up Comic, Author, Human Rights Activist, Antifascist, Velocipede Enthusiast, Social Justice Supporter, & Shero (female hero) Plangonologist.

How did you become involved in Frolic?
A friend sent me a link to the website before I moved to Ballarat.

What attracted you to becoming involved?
It was a mix of the familiar & the new. I was a new resident & I was familiar with the tasks involved in an arts festival because in Brisbane I had been a queer feminist activist, cabaret producer, festival volunteer, artist, drag king, writer for the queer press, & a performance artist.

What do you love about Frolic?
I love watching a young festival grow & blossom over the years.

What do you hope for Frolic’s future?
More people will become aware of the events & more people in the community will offer feedback & suggestions so the festival can fulfil the needs of the local community.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival?
Meeting local people, helping events run smoothly, being behind the scenes supporting the artists, performers, & organisers.

Pitch a fantasy event for Frolic in the future:
Pet Parade (this was always the highlight of the Brisbane LGBTIQA Pride Festival Fair Day) with prizes for best costumes, best hair, best tricks, etc. [editors note: great idea! We’ll refer this to our festival working group to explore!]

Outside of Frolic, what are you most passionate about?
Returning to postgraduate study, & doing my PhD in Victoria.

Tell us about your relationship with Ballarat:
I moved to Ballarat at the very end of 2018 with my cat, bike, books, & female action figures.  I plan to study & continue to publish, exhibit, & perform. But first I needed some solitude & privacy as I established my new home. Volunteering with the local queer festival is my compromise between returning to a public career & enjoying anonymity.

What do you love about Ballarat?
It is a sophisticated, cosmopolitan city, yet a quiet, & peaceful, country town. The people are kind, friendly, & helpful.  The architecture is gorgeous. The art galleries are exciting. It’s just an hour & ten minutes away from Melbourne, where I have many friends. My cat loves having his own backyard!

If you want to volunteer with Frolic Festival visit: https://frolicfestival.org/volunteer/

Benjamin Ashe is our Festival Director – say hi!

Meet Ben/Benji/Benjamin Ashe, the next volunteer we’re profiling as part of our Frolic Festival profiles. Ben is one of the founders of the Frolic Festival, the Festival Director, and sits on our Committee of Management.

Benjamin is pictured on the right, with Mel on the left

Preferred first name: Ben/Benji/Benjamin Ashe – I really don’t mind!

Pronouns: He, They

Your role: Festival Director

What does that involve? I work with everyone on the Frolic team to make sure that we achieve our festival goals. I contribute towards what Frolic will look like into the future. I help to maintain strong relationships within and without our organization.

Describe yourself in 25 words or less: I’m a bit of an introverted extrovert. I love going to events, but equally love time to myself cooking, gardening or building stuff.

Outside of Frolic, what are you most passionate about? I’m passionate about ethics, social justice, and the environment.

How did you become involved in Frolic? I started Frolic with the help of some friends. When I first moved to Ballarat there wasn’t much happening for the LGBTIQA+ community here in town. We got together and came up with the idea that we should put on some events where everyone from the LGBTIQA+ community could get together, meet each other and make new connections.

Why are you involved in Frolic? I want to see all of the benefits that an LGBTIQA+ festival can bring to Ballarat – like acceptance, positive visibility, and a safer harmonious community.

What do you love about Frolic? I love that Frolic brings people together, people who are very different make connections with each other through Frolic and I think that builds community.

What do you hope for Frolic’s future? I’d like to see Frolic grow and help more people in Ballarat find connection and community.

Favourite past event and why: The Under The Sea Ball was a fantastic event; it brought together so many people and some very talented performers, and the decorations were fabulous.

What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival? I’m really looking forward to the Bush dance; it’s at a beautiful new venue and it looks like we’ll have a lot of support from the broader community.

Pitch a fantasy event for Frolic in the future: We paint up a rainbow caravan, set it up with a bar and music, and hold outdoor dance parties over summer at all sorts of locations.

Tell us about your relationship with Ballarat: I bought a house here around seven years ago and fell in love with the place. I eventually quite my job in Melbourne and moved here full time about five years ago.

What do you love about Ballarat? I think Ballarat is the perfect combination of country and city, it’s small enough to have a great community spirit, but big enough to have everything that you need.

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Thanks so much Ben for sharing your story! Part of connecting the local LGBTIQA+ community is getting to know and celebrating its individual members. We’ll continue to share the stories of our volunteers in further updates!

Have you ever thought about getting involved in Frolic Festival as a volunteer? More info here: https://frolicfestival.org/volunteer/

Meet Sarah, one of our Frolic Volunteers

Volunteers are so important to our festival. Without our Frolic volunteers, we have no festival. But who are our volunteers? What do they do? Well, meet Sarah, one of our Ballarat volunteers in our first Frolic profile.

Sarah helps out with our sponsorship, marketing and promotions working group, has performed at our events in the past (will do so again in 2019!), and is an all-round legend.

Preferred first name: Sarah
Pronouns: she/her
How do you identify? Lesbian
Describe yourself in 25 words or less: I’m a music teacher and singer. I love travel (and coming home again), food, reading (especially historical queer fiction), cocktails and cats.
How did you become involved in Frolic? Some friends (who happen to be committee members) talked me into it.
What attracted you to becoming involved? Free tickets and flattery.
What do you love about Frolic? The variety of events on offer. The focus on community building.
What do you hope for Frolic’s future? That it continues to provide opportunities for the LGBTIQA+ peeps in the Ballarat region to form connections and grow a strong community.
Favourite past event and why: Bush Dance 2017. Catching the bus out to Donegan’s Farm was a bit of an adventure. I felt warmly welcomed by Frolic Festival volunteers. The dances were really fun and I met some awesome people who I ended up becoming great friends with.
What are you looking forward to most at this year’s festival? Our first ever Carnival Day.
Pitch a fantasy event for Frolic in the future: A treasure hunt.
Outside of Frolic, what are you most passionate about? Giving kids opportunities to learn music.
Tell us about your relationship with Ballarat: Moved here from Melbourne in 2004 for cheaper property. Stayed because Ballarat keeps getting better.
What do you love about Ballarat? It’s small enough that it’s an easy place to live, but big enough to keep me entertained. The food scene keeps getting better and better and there are more festivals popping up every year. I love that I never have to travel for more than 10 minutes to catch up with friends.

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Thanks so much Sarah for sharing your story! Part of connecting the community is getting to know and celebrating its individual members and we’re so happy you were the first cab off the rank. We’ll continue to share the stories of our Frolic Ballarat volunteers in further updates!

Have you ever thought about getting involved in Frolic Festival as a volunteer? More info here: https://frolicfestival.org/volunteer/

Want to volunteer with Frolic?

Do you want to volunteer with Frolic? Maybe you made a new year’s resolution to try new things? Maybe you’ve sat on the sidelines & thought about putting your hand up?

Well now is the time to speak up! If you’re interested send us a message – we can talk about what you’re keen on doing! 🏳️‍🌈