SPLENDOUR FORUM, is the festival’s successful live discussion program. It is back in 2012, to tackle a bunch of questions that range from the philosiphic; where does superstardom come from? To the brain perplexing, "Is the internet good for democracy?"
If you want a break from the music head over to the forum on Saturday arvo 28th July to find out; "What comes first – musical genius or divine inspiration? Does it take supernatural talent to be a rock god? Or just belief in the supernatural?" Join Australia's favourite faith-prodding documentary film-maker and broadcaster John Safran, writer/comedian/star of the award-winning comedy show "God Is Bullshit" Catherine Deveny, The Chaser's Craig Reucassel, triple j breakfast host and atheist Tom Ballard, singer/songwriter Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe, 50 Years of Dylan), Spiderbait's Kram (who once penned a punk anthem about going on a roadtrip with Jesus) and World Vision's national advisor for youth, faith & activism Jarrod McKenna, to chat all about the mysteries of supe stardom.
On Friday afternoon join Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, currently one of the six crossbench politicians holding the balance of power in the Australian Parliament, The Chaser's Craig Reucassel, Julian Assange's close colleague, author and academic Dr Suelette Dreyfus, Hungry Beast journalists and tech geeks Dan Ilic, Marc Fennell and Monique Schafter, securities journalist Patrick Gray, new-breed citizen journalist and professional Twitterer Asher Wolf, whose Twitter account was subpoenaed by the Boston Police Department last year during the Occupy protest, and tech entrepreneur Leon Hill, the self-made 20-something millionaire who founded uSocial, the first company in the world to sell Facebook friends and Twitter followers to corporations and governments, as they vie for your vote on whether the Internet is democracy's friend or foe.
All festival long there are interesting events happening at the Splendour forum, movie premieres, letter writing with Bertie Blackman and others, APRA presents Songwriters Speak where a group of songwriters will discuss their musical influences, lyrical inspirations,favourite songs,musical idols and approaches to the craft of songwriting, The Chaser's Dominic Knight will probe Conservation Foundation president Professor Ian Lowe, new Greens Senator, economist and surfer Peter Whish-Wilson, Australian Youth Climate Coalition national director Ellen Sandell, Environmentalist of the Year Matthew Wright, musician and activist Natalie Pa'apa'a (Blue King Brown) and ActionAid director and anti-poverty campaigner Archie Law (Huxton Creepers) about how we might plug in for a sustainable future. The Spledour Forum recieved excellent reviews for 2011 with The Age reporting;
"One of the most enjoyable and successful Splendour attractions was the inaugural Q&A forums held each day … the well-attended sessions were terrific dialogue starters that showed there is a hunger for even timetable-harried festival fans to engage in music on a more cerebral level. Will other festivals follow the lead?"
Check the Splendour website for a full timetable of forum events at; http://splendourinthegrass.com/
