Catch these Magabala creator sessions at the 2026 Red Dirt Poetry Festival.

Bebe Oliver

Poetry Long Lunch
Friday, August 21, 12:30PM-1:30PM
Alice Springs Community Gardens
105 Burke St, East Side NT

Settle in for a relaxed and sociable long lunch where poetry is on the menu. This informal gathering invites audiences and festival poets to share a table, a conversation, and a love of words.

Poets from the festival program will join the audience to read, chat, and listen. Led by Jody Kopp – guests are invited to share their own poems too – or simply sit back and enjoy the performances.

Catered by Reality Bites Catering.

The Love Inn
Friday, August 21, 8:00PM-10:30PM
Gap View Hotel
123 Gap Road, Alice Springs

This intimate gathering invites audiences to experience poetry and storytelling that explore connection, desire, loss, tenderness, and resilience. Festival poets will share work that finds beauty in broken places, warmth after darkness, and love as an act of endurance and renewal.

At a time where everything hurts – the Love Inn is a refuge for open hearts and curious minds – a place to find connection, meaning and a little titillation.

Capped off with performances by Stellar Sea and Balaclava Peace Collective.

Stand By Me
Saturday, August 22, 3:00PM-4:00PM
Gap View Hotel
123 Gap Road, Alice Springs

Poetry doesn’t exist in a vacuum – as poets and audiences we need opportunities to come together, to share not only in each others creativity but in the shared experiences of grief, joy and the intense overwhelm. Now more than ever we need to stand by each other as we navigate shared collective experiences.

Luke Patterson

Poetry Long Lunch
Friday, August 21, 12:30PM-1:30PM
Alice Springs Community Gardens
105 Burke St, East Side NT

Settle in for a relaxed and sociable long lunch where poetry is on the menu. This informal gathering invites audiences and festival poets to share a table, a conversation, and a love of words.

Poets from the festival program will join the audience to read, chat, and listen. Led by Jody Kopp – guests are invited to share their own poems too – or simply sit back and enjoy the performances.

Catered by Reality Bites Catering.

Oscillations
Saturday, August 22 8:30PM-10:30PM
Gap View Hotel
123 Gap Road, Alice Springs

We’ve partnered up poets from the program with musical artists from Central Australia to create cascading soundscapes with the haunting poetic delivery of our poets.

Come on a journey through time and space as we explore the threads of survival, the interconnectedness of us all and what is left through poetry, music and projections.

Love, Empire, Poetry
Sunday, August 23, 4:00PM-5:00PM
Gap View Hotel
123 Gap Road, Alice Springs

Here, two brothers from different cultures reflect on the responsibilities of carrying stories, the tensions between vulnerability and expectation, and the ways language helps us make sense of ourselves and each other. Part in-conversation, part poetry reading and part collective activity, this session invites audiences into the discussion. Together we’ll consider the stories we inherit, the stories we carry, and what poetry might teach us about living with one another.

Presented in partnership with Red Room Poetry as part of Poetry Month.

Marjorie 'Nunga' Williams

Youth Hub - Saturday
Saturday, August 22, 12:00PM-4:00PM
Gap View Hotel
123 Gap Road, Alice Springs

From 12-4pm at Gap View Hotel will feature Youth Hub in the Dome, featuring activities and workshops for young people.

Access is free for under 16’s accompanied by a Festival Pass or Day Pass holder, or $10 on-arrival.

Youth Hub - Sunday
Sunday, August 23, 12:00PM-4:00PM
Gap View Hotel
123 Gap Road, Alice Springs

From 12-4pm at Gap View Hotel will feature Youth Hub in the Dome, featuring activities and workshops for young people.

Access is free for under 16’s accompanied by a Festival Pass or Day Pass holder, or $10 on-arrival.

Get your tickets at the button below.

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