Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Sugarbag Festival - a celebration of arts ands culture - is on this weekend, Ben Graetz gives us the lowdown

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The Sugarbag Festival - a celebration of arts ands culture - is on this weekend, Ben Graetz gives us the lowdown · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: I always love hearing about fantastic events happening around the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory. And joining me in the studio right now
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  Speaker 1: is Ben Gratz. He is the curator of the sugar
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  Speaker 1: Bag Festival. Good morning to you, Ben.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. How are you wonderful?
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  Speaker 1: As always? What is the sugar Bag Fest?
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  Speaker 2: Sugar Bag Festival? Look, this is the inaugural festival starting
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  Speaker 2: this Friday, and sugar Bag is all about it's an
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  Speaker 2: inclusive arts and cultural festival that celebrates diversity, inclusion and
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  Speaker 2: bringing our community together. It sounds like.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be a lot of fun. Is it
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  Speaker 1: just sort of happening this weekend or how long is
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  Speaker 1: it running for?
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  Speaker 2: So the inaugural festival is happening this weekend, so from
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  Speaker 2: Friday the third until Sunday the fifth of June because
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  Speaker 2: they March then June. But we are planning on doing
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  Speaker 2: various events with sugar Bag throughout the year because I
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  Speaker 2: think it's important for community to be able to come together,
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  Speaker 2: you know, have a safe place for our rainbow community
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  Speaker 2: to be together. Yeah, I reckon it's a great idea.
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  Speaker 1: So what kind of what can be expect?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, this Friday we're starting at the Darwin Entertainment
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  Speaker 2: Center and we have the preview of We the People,
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  Speaker 2: which is a photographic exhibition with Terse Richie. And Therese Richie,
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  Speaker 2: all a lot of territories will know, is an award
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  Speaker 2: winning photographer and we're so lucky to have Therese Richie
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  Speaker 2: that worked with Top End Pride as well. And we've
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  Speaker 2: got portraites of over twenty different people from community and
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  Speaker 2: they're all in different kind of you know, showing the
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  Speaker 2: different personalities in the different aspects. And so that's in
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  Speaker 2: the gallery. And then we open with Queerly Beloved, which
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  Speaker 2: is a night of storytelling hosted by Lisa Pellegrino. Oh.
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  Speaker 2: I love that and having stories with our queer community.
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  Speaker 2: But also there's going to be performances and a really
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  Speaker 2: great night getting to know local territorians and their story
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  Speaker 2: and what makes it so unique about living in Darwin
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  Speaker 2: and being connected to this place. And I will say
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  Speaker 2: that we've got it full of events. We also have
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  Speaker 2: some workshops, We've got a sunset tea party on the
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  Speaker 2: Esplanade on the Saturday, but we also have an incredible international,
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  Speaker 2: two spirited film called Wildhood, which is going to be
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  Speaker 2: played at Magnet in the Maritime Lawn. And what makes
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  Speaker 2: this unique, Katie, is that we're screening the film on
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  Speaker 2: the back of a semi trailer with northern lights MT
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  Speaker 2: How amazing. So you can bring bring your picnic blanket,
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  Speaker 2: sit under the stars and watch this incredible film on
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  Speaker 2: the back of a semi trailer. It's an award winning
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  Speaker 2: international film from Canada. So that's going to be one
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  Speaker 2: of our you know, incredible events. But lots of events
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  Speaker 2: happening over the next three days. And you know it's
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  Speaker 2: a dry season, so well apparently it's a dry season. Well,
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  Speaker 2: actually we've got it. We've got a mural that's been painted.
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  Speaker 2: We're partnering with Darwin Street Art Festival and Caffeine, who
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  Speaker 2: is in a renowned lgbch i q a plus artist,
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  Speaker 2: is painting a mural on Litchfield Street for us.
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  Speaker 1: So when's that happening.
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  Speaker 2: It's happening right now, so that should be ready by
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  Speaker 2: the weekend. But we're asking people to go down and
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  Speaker 2: say hello to Caffeen. She's an internationally acclaimed mural artist
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  Speaker 2: and has done a lot of the work with Darwin
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  Speaker 2: Street Art, including Shaniqua Yep, the big one of Shaniqua. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: but yeah, go and say hi to Caffeine, but make
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  Speaker 2: sure you check it out because it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: an incredible weekend celebrating inclusion and diversity, and it's for everyone,
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  Speaker 2: like allies, you know, the Rainbow community, everyone that loves
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  Speaker 2: to come together and celebrate our diversities.
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  Speaker 1: Then you are an incredibly busy person. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: people listening will be thinking to themselves, goodness me. Then
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  Speaker 1: you're curating a whole other event. What made you, you know,
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  Speaker 1: what made you want to do the sugar Bag Festival.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I think that obviously. I'm really passionate about
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  Speaker 2: arts and culture and the creative sector, and having grown
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  Speaker 2: up in Darwin, Darwin's my home. I really love it.
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  Speaker 2: You know, my parents are born here, we have a
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  Speaker 2: long history. But I had to go away and study
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  Speaker 2: to become an actor in the creative sector, and I
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  Speaker 2: always wanted to come back and exchange, you know, teach
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  Speaker 2: my skills back here in Darwin, my hometown. So arts
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  Speaker 2: and culture has always been a really big part of
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  Speaker 2: my life and I'm really passionate about it. So we
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  Speaker 2: decided that, you know, the two passions that I love
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  Speaker 2: as you know, being a part of the Rainbow community,
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  Speaker 2: but also the arts and cultural sectors. So I thought,
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  Speaker 2: let's combine the two and work with people that we
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  Speaker 2: really love and have a festival that not only happens
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  Speaker 2: this weekend, but as mentioned, will happen throughout the year
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  Speaker 2: as well.
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  Speaker 1: So it is wonderful and I think it's wonderful to
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  Speaker 1: see events like these happening in the Northern Territory. But
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  Speaker 1: you are also set to head away. You are going, well,
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  Speaker 1: you're going overseas in a couple of weeks. Aren't you
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  Speaker 1: going to Sydney first? And then you're going overseas? Tell
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  Speaker 1: me what you're working on.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm going over seas for a holiday, Yes, that's right, Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: thank you. But I'm also working on I'm one of
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  Speaker 2: the creative festival directors for Sydney World Pride. So Sydney
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  Speaker 2: World Pride is happening in February March next year, and
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  Speaker 2: it's the first World Pride to take place in the
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  Speaker 2: Southern Hemisphere. So it's huge. It's a seventeen day program,
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  Speaker 2: it's you know, over four hundred events and there'll be
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  Speaker 2: people coming from overseas, locally nationally to be a part
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  Speaker 2: of this event. So basically people ask what is World Pride,
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  Speaker 2: and I say, look, it's like Sydney game has been
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  Speaker 2: Mardi Gras, but on steroids.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be crazy.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be crazy. So all the Mardi Gras
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  Speaker 2: events are there as well, but Sidney World Pride is
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  Speaker 2: going to be having an incredible event full of beautiful
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  Speaker 2: things for everyone to come and join that as well.
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  Speaker 2: So the Mardi Gras Parade will happen. But we've got
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  Speaker 2: a party at Bondo Beach, closing down Bondo Beach, having
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  Speaker 2: a party, closing the Sydney Harbor Bridge and doing a
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  Speaker 2: Pride march across the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We've got an
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  Speaker 2: opening and closing celebration, human rights conference, just to name
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  Speaker 2: a few. So what's it like for you?
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  Speaker 1: It's so busy. But talking about you, I mean you
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  Speaker 1: and I worked together many years ago when you launched
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  Speaker 1: the Garamaluma Festival. That's quite some time ago. You are
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  Speaker 1: a proud Indigenous man, united trained. You have done so
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  Speaker 1: much over the last few years. What is it like
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  Speaker 1: for you then, as a territory boy going off and
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  Speaker 1: working on such huge events like this and really, you
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  Speaker 1: know you must feel so incredibly proud to represent the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory in that way.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Katie. And you know I'm such a huge advocate
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  Speaker 2: for the Northern Territory in particularly Darwin. You know, it's
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  Speaker 2: got a big place in my heart. But like you've said,
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  Speaker 2: you know, look, I'm just passionate about our creative sector
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  Speaker 2: and particularly about making change through the arts. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: I've seen how it can change people. I've seen how
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  Speaker 2: it brings people together, particularly through COVID. You know, when
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  Speaker 2: we couldn't do anything, people turned to radio, they turned
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  Speaker 2: to TV, they turned to film, they turned to Netflix
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  Speaker 2: and that's all the creative sector. So we play a
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  Speaker 2: really important role in our society. And I think for
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  Speaker 2: me it's about how I can create change in this
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  Speaker 2: world through through what I can do. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: doing the things in here in Darwen during the Granmlung
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  Speaker 2: Festival with you all those years ago, you know, has
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  Speaker 2: really set me up to be able to take on
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  Speaker 2: these big events and it's taught me the skills. And
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  Speaker 2: I'm also learning from Sydney will Pride and I'll bring
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  Speaker 2: those skills back to Darwin and you know, hopefully be
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  Speaker 2: able to still create incredible big events here. I'm very
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  Speaker 2: ambitious and as you've said, you know, I can't sit still. No,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I always have to do something, and for me,
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  Speaker 2: it's always about my community. It's about my people, first
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  Speaker 2: Nations people, but also the Rainbow community and the people
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  Speaker 2: of the Northern Territory in Darwin.
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  Speaker 1: So I love to see it. I feel incredibly proud
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  Speaker 1: of the work that you do. But I love the
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  Speaker 1: way that you know, no matter where around the world
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  Speaker 1: that you're working, you always bring it back to the
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  Speaker 1: territory as well, which I think is so wonderful. And
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  Speaker 1: bringing those events to the territory, you should be really
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  Speaker 1: happy and proud of yourself.
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  Speaker 2: Oh thanks Katie. And you know, look, I am very
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  Speaker 2: proud of this place and all the work that's going
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  Speaker 2: on here, the events and the creative sector, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: thanks for all your support, and you know, I look
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  Speaker 2: forward to creating many more events. I bet I can't wait.
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  Speaker 1: Good on you, Ben, It's always lovely to talk to you.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Now just very quickly actually before I let you go,
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  Speaker 1: if anyone wants some further info on the Sugar Bank
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  Speaker 1: Festival Week. Can they find it?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Sugar Bank Festival Happening is launching this Friday. You
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  Speaker 2: can head to sugar Bank Festival dot com dot Au
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  Speaker 2: or just stalk us on Instagram and Facebook.
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  Speaker 1: Good stuff. I love a good stalk.
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  Speaker 2: Good