The MASC Youth FReeZa crew will present an exciting event at the Castlemaine Skate Park and Western Reserve, featuring COUCH ReCovered, skateboarding and BMX riding competitions, dance and singing workshops, local food and business stalls, street art, parkour, and live bands and performances, including headline acts Diafrix and Massive hip hop choir from Melbourne.

Diafrix mixes traditional African rhythms with funk, reggae, soul and hip hop in their urban music that they call Positive Hip Hop, which has a cultural bent and a no swearing policy. They use their flow to entertain and raise awareness of the African–Australian experience. Diafrix have established themselves over the last seven years as one of Australia’s most exciting and original live acts.

Massive, Australia’s first hip hop choir, offers young hip hop composers, producers and performers the opportunity to work with choir director Andrea Khoza and beat facilitator Momo from Diafrix, to reinterpret their hip hop tracks into contemporary arrangements for mass voices. Over the last year they have given Melbourne audiences a taste of their growing repertoire and now Castlemaine will have the great privilege
of experiencing a first-time-ever performance of Massive and
Diafrix together.

Come down and support the dedicated and enthusiastic members of FReeZa who meet weekly to plan for young people’s events in the Mount Alexander Shire. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of FReeZa FEVER!

Originally created by Barking Owl Theatre, Movement Zone,
unqualified, People Pictures and loads of local young people, COUCH went off (was successfully sprung) at the Castlemaine State Festival in 2009. Since then, COUCH has been an invited guest of festivals in Launceston and Melbourne.

With some new faces and new locations, the Castlemaine State Festival is ReCovering COUCH for 2011. We’re opening our living rooms and putting our sofas on the street. Old couches will be transformed with our vibrant artwork and dynamic energy, in our own town. So look out for random couches scattered around Castlemaine — places for hanging out, dancing, storytelling, or just watching the world, catching a rest and reflecting on the meaning of home.

Barking Owl Theatre conceived COUCH in 2009 in response to hearing stories about young people’s homelessness and couch surfing. COUCH asks questions about where we feel comfortable, safe and secure. COUCH asks us where we feel at home.

So get comfy and get involved — come and hang out with us on the COUCH and show us where you belong.