Planting Party

A celebration of community-led environmental action, art and plants, marking the start of spring. To celebrate our month of community-led volunteer plantings held in August across Melbourne and beyond, we are throwing a family-friendly Planting Party ! If you joined a Planting event in August , Planting Party will be an opportunity to reconnect with community groups and volunteers and perhaps make new friends. If you missed Planting , don’t worry – you are invited to the party too! The day will be full of music, ceremony, art and conversation, where you can explore a plant market, enjoy delicious food and learn from Elders and First Nations knowledge holders about caring for Country. Throughout the day, you can join in a hands-on propagation or creative workshop led by artists and plant experts – and meet with passionate environmentalists from local community groups working to protect our landscapes and waterways through collective grassroots action. The exciting line-up of live music includes Kee’ahn, Riff Raff Marching Band and the Climate Choir alongside music from DJs Darcy Justice, General Vibes, Tess Monoghan and Elsie. Fed Square and Creative Climate gratefully thanks its partners for making Planting possible: Creative Victoria, Creative Australia, Bupa, Melbourne Water and Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo collaboration, Now or Never and Landcare. Conversations Gather around the Conversation Table (by Winsor Kerr) to listen to stories and join in discussions about how to care for our landscapes with ecologists, cultural practitioners, landscape architects and artists. 10am: Seasonal backyard indicators, with Yorta Yorta Barapa Barapa man and trainee ecologist Kai Lane 11am: Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, with Wurundjeri man Thane Garvey 12pm: From offsetting to insetting, a Dancehouse case study 1pm: Reconnecting with hidden landscapes, a First Nations-led approach with Petrichor 2pm: Bringing it back to Country – join in the group deconstruction of the Conversation Table, with Shannon Winsor and Bede Brennan Workshops Take part in one of our hands-on workshops led by artists and plant experts, where you can learn the art of creating new plant life through propagation, and let plants give life to your art, through weaving and postcard-making. 10am–11am: Drop-in conversations in the Test Garden with MAP Co Head Gardener Natalie and Horticulturist Bonnie 10am–12pm: Weaving bush animals, with Aunty Bronwyn Razem 10am–12pm: Little Green Thumbs – gardening, nature and creative play for kids, with Alyse Kent from VINC Nursery 12.30pm–1.30pm: Beginners guide to frog bogs, with Bili Nursery 1pm–3pm: Making seed bombs, with Yorta Yorta Barapa Barapa man and trainee ecologist Kai Lane 1pm–3pm: Drawing plants in the Test Garden, with artist Craig Burgess 1pm–3pm: Learn bird names in Woi-wurrung, with Wurundjeri woman and language specialist Brooke Wandin All-day drop-in workshops Making clay animals, with artist Nick Gauci Postcard making with Paradoxa Collective Get your own endangered plant or animal temporary tattoo, with artist Catherine Van Oldenberg Kakala (plant) weaving workshop, with Veisinia Tonga Painting plant and animal cutouts, with artist Gretel Tobin Stimming on Country – learning the art of self-regulation through connection to Aboriginal culture and Country, with Aunty’s Place Music Catch community choirs, singer-songwriters, ensembles and local DJs throughout the afternoon, providing a relaxed ambient soundscape to your Planting Party experience. 10am–11.30am: DJ Darcy Justice 10.15am–10.45am: Climate Choir 11.30am–1pm: DJ General Vibes 11.45am–12pm: Riff Raff Marching Band 12.30pm–1pm: Kee’ahn 1pm–3pm: DJs Tess Monaghan and Elsie Open air market and community groups Pick up a coffee or something delicious to eat and wander through the stalls where you can check out the plant market and connect with local community and volunteer groups to get inspired about grassroots collective action. Community groups stalls, including Landcare Victoria, Gardens for Wildlife and Yarra Riverkeeper Association Food and drink Plant market, featuring Bili Nursery, Basalt Buddies, VINC, Nalderun and the Australian Plant Society Art and installation To create a Planting Party atmosphere, it’s all about celebrating art and nature – and nature through art. Check out the art installations and projects by local artists inspired by nature and created from plants. Conversation table by Winsor Kerr Banners by Centre for Reworlding and House of Muchness Botanical art by Veisinia Tonga Floating Library with the Seaweed Appreciation Society International, Symbio Punk and FishLife Library Growing Place, a soon to be released immersive public art trail by Joanne Mott and John Power with Uncle Dave Wandin, commissioned by CoM.