The countdown has begun!

September 15, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

The countdown until our full 2019 Frolic Festival program launches and ticket sales open has started!

We’re super proud of the program we’ve put together this year. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Our full program will be revealed and ticket sales will open THIS coming weekend. Before then, look our for our full trailer and poster reveals.

Email subscribers will get a special alert when everything goes live and early access to cheaper Early Bird tickets. Not a subscriber? Sign up here!

You’ll want to get in quick – some of our events have super limited tickets and our event pricing remains accessible to all!

Ballarat Queer History Exhibition and NEW video!

September 12, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

Earlier this year 632 people engaged with our Ballarat Heritage Weekend exhibition and 78 people took our Ballarat queer history tours!

Watch this video by the very talented Akasha Temple to find out more about our Exhibition and Frolic Festival.

This November our history exhibition from Heritage Weekend will be on display in Lucas at Ballarat Community Health. Ballarat Community Health are a proud Rainbow Sponsor of Frolic Festival and good friend to the local LGBTIQA+ community.

Also, it will come to you as no surprise but we’ll also be having another Ballarat Queer Goldfields History Tour led by Thomas (co-host of popular podcast Tales from Rat City) as part of this year’s festival! More details on that to come soon. It’s always a popular event, and no matter if you’re a local or from out of town – you’ll learn something new and fascinating!

Another special event announcement!

September 10, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

This year we’re partnering with the Art Gallery of Ballarat to bring you a very special event – Queering the Gallery with Frolic!

Featuring Lance DeBoyle and special appearances by Gabriella Labucci, it’s going to be an event not to be missed! Did we mention there’s super limited tickets?! Don’t miss out…

Find out more info by visiting our events page.

Looking for cabaret performers!

September 8, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

Yes, Frolic Cabaret will be making its return to the 2019 Frolic Festival. After a very successful sold out run as part of Ballarat Winter Festival we’re bringing it back for one night only!

The great thing about our Frolic Cabaret is that we keep it fresh – with singers, drag artists, circus, and burlesque (and more). You never know what you’ll find at Frolic Cabaret.

If you’re interested in being added to our performers list for consideration as an act this year, complete this form and we’ll be in touch!

Minnie Mayhem before she and her victim got a little bloody.

Note, we operate on a profit sharing model and ensure all our performers get paid. We ask you promote the event and our Festival too as the more attendees, the more the performers take home! Profits are split evenly amongst performers. Oh, and strictly no divas allowed – we’re a friendly bunch at Frolic!

Share our Teaser Trailer and win!

September 6, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

What have you got planned for the weekend? Personally, we’re watching this Frolic teaser trailer over and over again to pick up the secret hidden clues as to what expect. 🤔

Check it out for yourself below.

Want to win some tickets to our Frolic Warm Up event at No Lights, No Lycra announced earlier this week?

Go to our FB post here, click share and get excited! One lucky person that likes and shares the FB post will win entry for you and another to the Special Frolic No Lights, No Lycra! ❤️🏳️‍🌈🎉

Make sure you like our FB page so we can tag you if you win!

Come out, come out for our Frolic WARM UP event!

September 4, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

Come out, come out, wherever you are! This year we have a SPECIAL event happening a few days before the Frolic Festival. Consider it a festival WARM UP where you can meet your Ballarat Frolic Festival BFF before the main festival. That way, you’ll always have someone to go to a Frolic event with.

Last year we had a Fast Friends Speed Dating event – this year we have a special Frolic Edition of NO LIGHTS, NO LYCRA!

We’ll meet beforehand, and then dance to some classic queer anthems in a total non-judgemental and (almost) dark space!

More details can be found at this link.

EOIs open for a stall at Frolic Carnival Day

August 21, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

Are you a local business or community group that’d be interested in having a stall at the 2019 Frolic Carnival Day?

We’re seeking Expressions of Interest from groups wanting a stall space.

What you need to know

The Carnival is on Saturday November 9 from noon to 4pm at Alfred Deakin Place.

The day will feature a main stage, stalls, a special kids corner, food trucks, a licensed bar for adults, and multiple performers during the day including bands, drag queens, comedians, roving performers and DJs.

The audience will be as diverse as the LGBTIQA+ community and is an all ages event.

There are a limited number of stalls available with different facilities provided. We want to make sure that each stall will be the right fit for both of us and the stall holder – and keen to get an interesting mix. So get in quick so you don’t miss out.

If you’re interested in finding out more about stall opportunities contact info@frolicfestival.org for more information and to receive a copy of our stall holder info.

Meet Max, Frolic volunteer

August 19, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

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/

Frolic Festival Announcement

August 15, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

The Ballarat Frolic Festival Committee of Management would like to announce that committee member Melissa ‘Mel’ Whitaker has decided to step down from her role on the committee.

Mel Whitaker and Benjamin Ashe

We want to thank Mel for all the work she’s done over the past couple of years – first as a volunteer with the organisation and then as a committee member. Her contributions to running our events have been huge and we wish her all the best. Mel will always be a valued member of the Frolic community!

We’d also like to announce that long time Frolic volunteer Sarah Hirst has been elected to the committee. We’re confident that Sarah’s experience as a Frolic volunteer and dedication to the arts and performance will be a fantastic asset to the organisation.

Our new team is super excited to be working together and we can confirm that last night we met for the first time as a new committee and finalised (fingers crossed!) our festival events for 2019! Yay!

You’ll be hearing more as we tease these announcements out very soon. We love to keep you in suspense! 😉

Lots of love,

Your BFF Committee

Ben, Fleur, Jay, Renee, Sarah

Frolic Cabaret at Ballarat Winter Festival wrap up!

July 14, 2019 / jaymorrison1982

That’s a wrap! Frolic’s debut onto the Ballarat Winter Festival program of events has been a hit.

Last night Ballarat’s talented performers wowed a packed house at the Printer’s Room for our last weekend of Frolic Cabaret. From drag kings and queens to burlesque and songs we were thoroughly entertained. Even tonsillitis couldn’t stop the fabulous Nellie Minelli who was, as always, a confident, funny, engaging and clever host.

Frolic Festival Volunteer at Frolic Cabaret

Glamorous Frolic Volunteer ‘Maxine’ showed audience members to their seats with a real touch of class!

The show…

With every performer stunning in their own right; highlights included Katherine Gale’s pure and melodic voice that could warm even the coldest of nights, the captivating, surprise talent of Jack Height who clearly belongs on the stage, and Nathan’s sassy rendition of ‘The Masochism Tango’ with added audience member participation!

Nathan Hollingworth singing with his human microphone stand.. before the riding crop came out!

Perhaps our most accomplished performer of the night, with more notches under her belt than there is room to list, Maureen, had the audience in stitches with her Bette Midler impersonation. At the other end of the scale, emerging artist Lil’ Jul shared his eclectic combination of original instrumentals, singing and rap.

Ballarat’s drag queens, Elektra Lite and Luxe could give any of the RuPaul girls a run for their money. Luxe’s unforgettable, hilarious, Tracy Grimshaw/Mr G mashup performance ‘Ecstacy’ was a clear crowd favourite. Not to be outdone by the queens, a drag king performance by Kara Chameleon had us all wanting to jump out of our seats and join their air guitar ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ set.

Drag Queen Elektra Lite wrapped up the show on a high with the audience clapping along to ‘This is me’ by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble

Our burlesque girls really showed how it’s done with a truly wonderful display of talent. From the cheeky ‘Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ performance of Lady Eleanora, the moving ‘Sound of Silence’ by Anna Phalaxis, to the downright sexy ‘If I was your Vampire’ performed by Minnie Mayhem – complete with True Blood style gore.

Frolic Cabaret Ballarat Winter Festival Minnie Mayhem

Minnie Mayhem before she and her victim got a little bloody.

Want more? So do we! Make sure you put the 7^th– 13^thNovember into your calendars for Frolic Festival’s week of events including new cabaret performances and more. Sign up to our mailing list so you don’t miss a thing.

Should we do Ballarat Winter Festival again? What do you think?