Winter Party is a strange and spectacular family-friendly cabaret celebration created by UNDERARTS x The Huxleys.

Across four imaginative days, young artists will work directly with UNDERARTS and The Huxleys to create original characters, costume pieces, performance moments and cabaret-style segments inspired by drag, performance art, runway, pop music, fantasy, transformation and The Huxleys’ dazzling creative world.

The final event brings these ideas together at Brunswick Ballroom in a playful public celebration of performance, costume, music and imagination. Expect runway moments, strange characters, cabaret surprises, music, dress-up awards, audience participation opportunities and a little bit of glamorous chaos.

This is a rare opportunity for young people to be mentored by professional artists throughout the week and then perform alongside them in a professional venue. It celebrates children and young people as artists in their own right — people with bold ideas, forming identities, strange imaginations and powerful creative worlds to share.

Like drag, Winter Party invites exaggeration, transformation and self-invention. It gives young people the chance to explore the parts of themselves they want to make bigger, brighter, stranger or more visible.

Children, young people, families, friends, artists, Huxleys fans and curious audiences are all warmly welcome. Audience dress-up is encouraged — come in your grandest finery, weirdest look, future fashion, sparkles, costume, creature-wear or whatever makes you feel fabulous.

Winter Party is for children, young people, families, UNDERARTS friends, Huxleys fans, costume-lovers, drag lovers, performance art lovers and anyone curious about what happens when young people are invited to make strange and spectacular work alongside professional artists.

This is more than sitting quietly and watching a show. Audiences can expect performance, music, costume, runway moments, cabaret surprises, dress-up awards and opportunities to join in — only if they want to.

Come as you are, or make a night of it. Get dressed up with your friends, your children, your family or your chosen family. Wear something glamorous, strange, sparkly, creature-like, future-facing, theatrical or completely your own.

At its heart, Winter Party is a celebration of young people’s creativity, imagination and emerging identities. Inspired by the spirit of drag, cabaret and performance art, the event gives young artists permission to exaggerate, transform, reveal, invent and explore who they are — or who they might become.

The Huxleys are Will and Garrett Huxley — Melbourne-based collaborative performance and visual artists known for their dazzling fusion of costume, photography, film, performance and spectacle.

Their work is a visual assault of sparkle, surrealism, camp and the absurd, creating glamorous and androgynous worlds that bring escapism, magic and transformation into everyday life.

Since 2014, The Huxleys have performed and exhibited across Australia and internationally, with presentations and commissions including NGV, AGNSW, QAGOMA, AGSA, AGWA, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne Fashion Week, Sydney Contemporary, Hong Kong Design Week, MONA FOMA and Dark Mofo.

UNDERARTS is a Brunswick-based performance-making program for young people.

We support young artists to create original contemporary performance through play, collaboration and creative risk-taking. In our workshops, participants devise their own characters, worlds, scenes and performance ideas with support from professional artists and facilitators.

Winter Party is part of our program of workshops and performance events that give young people the chance to share original work in professional and community arts spaces.

Full: $18 + booking fee
Child: $10 + booking fee
Under 2: Free

Tickets are booked through Brunswick Ballroom, with general admission and premium seating available.

Ticket income goes directly toward venue hire and the costs of presenting this original performance event at a professional venue.

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Brunswick Ballroom is located upstairs, with staircase access to the venue. A chair lift is available for audience members who need access support.

Audience seating will be at tables.

The performances will include loud music, amplified sound, theatrical lighting, and moments of high energy. There may also be moments of darkness, sudden sound changes and busy scenes involving the full ensemble.

We want audiences to feel welcome and comfortable. Please contact UNDERARTS before booking if you have any access questions or would like to discuss seating, sound, or venue access.