SPECIAL EVENTS & FREE EVENTS
AFCM 2023 features four special events throughout the Festival program. Gold Plus Subscribers have all four events included in their package. Places are limited to many of these fantastic events, including the ever-popular Island concert, so be sure to book now and secure your place!
We've also planned some fantastic FREE EVENTS for music lovers of all ages and from all walks of life. Take the opportunity to experience the magic of chamber music, on the house.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Read on to explore our special events - there's something for everyone!
SENSATIONAL SUNDAY
SUNDAY 30 JULY, 7.30PM – 9.30PM
THE PAVILION, THE VILLE RESORT-CASINO
AFCM FRIENDS $80 | ADULT $89 | CONCESSION $85
Do we need an excuse to sit back, relax and listen to some of the greatest chamber music ever created? Certainly not, so indulge yourself with Saint-Saens’ effervescent and unusual Septet, Mozart’s beautiful Flute Quartet and Brahms’ masterpiece, the Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 34.
* This event is included in Gold Plus Subscriptions only – shuttle transport is not provided.
VIEW MORE DETAILS INCLUDING AFCM ARTISTS PERFORMING, AND CONCERT REPERTOIRE HERE
PALM-BWGCOLMAN ISLAND CONCERT
TUESDAY 1 AUGUST, 7.00AM – 3.00PM
DEPARTS & RETURNS FROM SEALINK BREAKWATER TERMINAL
AFCM FRIENDS $250 | ADULT $275 | CONCESSION $260
The journey to Palm-Bwgcolman Island is just under 2 hours, and the crew are confident there will be some good whale watching along the way! Breakfast will be served on the ferry on the forward journey, and lunch will be served on the return journey.
The concert will take place on the beach, so the AFCM team have suggested you bring a fold-up chair, beach towel or blanket. Feel free to pack bathers if you are keen for a dip in the ocean!
The same wonderful musicians will be performing – Jack Liebeck, William Barton, David Elton, Nicole Tait, Rachelle Durkin and Peter Thomson.
Indeed, there is a special connection to Palm-Bwgcolman Island for William Barton as he has family who once resided there.
Palm Island, also known as Great Palm Island, or by the Aboriginal name Bwgcolman, is the largest of twelve tropical Islands in the Palm Island Group. It consists of small bays, sandy beaches, fringing reefs, beautiful freshwater streams and steep forested mountains rising to the highest peak of 548 metres at Bentley Ridge. Palm Island is the largest discreet Indigenous community in Australia with approximately 4000 people residing on Palm Island.
Meet at the SeaLink Breakwater Terminal at 7:00am for departure. Estimated return time is 3:00pm.
* This event is included in Gold Plus Subscriptions only – shuttle transport is not provided.
VIEW MORE DETAILS INCLUDING AFCM ARTISTS PERFORMING, AND CONCERT REPERTOIRE HERE
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SILENT CINEMA - THE GENERAL WITH ROBERT CONSTABLE
SATURDAY 5 AUGUST, 4.00PM – 5.30PM
TOWNSVILLE CIVIC THEATRE
AFCM FRIENDS $52 | ADULT $58 | CONCESSION $85
A Buster Keaton classic, an action-adventure-comedy, based on a real event that occurred during the American Civil War. In its time, this film flopped, but it has since become ranked as amongst the greatest films ever made, a theme found elsewhere in AFCM 2023.
* This event is included in Gold Plus Subscriptions only – shuttle transport is not provided.
VIEW MORE DETAILS INCLUDING AFCM ARTISTS PERFORMING, AND CONCERT REPERTOIRE HERE
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AFCM 2023 AFTER PARTY
SUNDAY 6 AUGUST, 4.30 - 6:30PM
PEPPERS BLUE ON BLUE, MAGNETIC ISLAND - YUNBENUN
AFCM FRIENDS $117 | ADULT $130 | CONCESSION $124
Head over early so you can explore the stunning bays and beaches, take a hike, cuddle a koala or simply sit in a Horseshoe Bay cafe for a relaxing lunch. Arrive
at Peppers Blue on Blue resort by 4:20pm, find your spot on their seaside deck, soak up the sunshine and mix with the other guests and musicians before enjoying performances from AFCM artists throughout the afternoon. Your ticket includes return ferry transfers, two complimentary drinks at Peppers Blue on Blue, canapes and the performance.
* This event is included in Gold Plus Subscriptions only – shuttle transport is not provided
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AFCM FAMILIES' CONCERT
SATURDAY 5 AUGUST, 2.00PM – 3.00PM
TOWNSVILLE CIVIC THEATRE
'Ferdinand the Bull' and 'Peter and the Wolf'
AFCM FRIENDS $30 | ADULT $35 | CONCESSION $32
Two perfect pieces to introduce young people to music: Ferdinand the Bull: This bull would prefer to smell flowers than to fight. When provoked by Matadors, he doesn’t react, but sits in the middle of the bull ring enjoying the flowers audience members throw in. Adjudged a failure by humans, he is returned to his paddock, where to this day he sits and smells the flowers. Peter and the Wolf is also about a fierce creature, but this too is a children’s story and Peter lives, to .... play an instrument in an orchestra, perhaps.
* This event is included in Gold & Gold Plus Subscriptions – shuttle transport is included.
VIEW MORE DETAILS INCLUDING AFCM ARTISTS PERFORMING, AND CONCERT REPERTOIRE HERE
BOOK NOW
The AFCM Queens Gardens Concert is back in 2023!
Join us on Sunday 30th July at 4:00pm in the Queens Gardens, for a FREE concert on the big stage featuring Festival artists and the Great Barrier Reef Orchestra.
Bring a picnic, some chairs or a blanket, and settle in for an afternoon of sunshine and music in the Queens Gardens.
Cafe and bar facilities are located on site as well as light snacks. This event is licensed, no BYO is permitted.
AFCM IllUMINATES III: AN INTRODUCTION TO CHAMBER MUSIC WITH STEPHEN JOHNSON
THURSDAY 3 AUGUST
6:00PM – 7.00PM FESTIVAL GARDEN
FREE EVENT – ALL AGES
We all take the phrase “Chamber Music” a little for granted, but what does it actually mean? Here, Stephen Johnson will shine a light on the origins and true meaning of what that beloved musical catch-phrase really is.
ADVANCED WINTERSCHOOL MASTERCLASSES
MONDAY 31 JULY, WEDNESDAY 2 AND THURSDAY 3 AUGUST
1.00PM – 2.00PM THE PAVILION, THE VILLE RESORT-CASINO
FREE EVENT | ALL AGES
Watch as acclaimed national and international artists coach emerging new musicians in a free hour-long public masterclass.
AFCM ILLUMINATES IV: COMPOSTER CONVERSATIONS
WEDNESDAY 2 AUGUST
3.30PM – 4.30PM TOWNSVILLE CIVIC THEATRE - C2
FREE EVENT
A discussion on the creative process of composition between Stephen Johnson, Sally Beamish and Joseph Havlat…