WA’s iconic Hills Festival

Tonight is the night that the festival begins ! Music kicks off at 6pm in the wine tent with Tim Sherry, and at 8pm Kazinko will be there to wow you. Give yourself a break from cooking, come down to the oval and grab some food from the food trucks. Halal Bros, Chocolate Chilli Pork Company, Pizza Joe’s, The Spice Box and Darlington’s own Little Brassicas will be on hand to feed you tonight.

There have been an unprecedented number of art entries this year and the curators have selected and hung as many as they could fit into the hall. It looks incredible and already quite a few have sold during the special sponsors preview event.

Visit the Youth Art event in the Mezzanine of the Lesser Hall and pop into the hall at 8pm to find out who won the new $5,000 DAFA prize, who won each of the four individual category prizes of $1,000 and $250. This is your best chance to buy some premium art, including the already fast selling works by D Thornton Hick.

Walk along the heritage trail and see the works that have been dropping in all day, Marquees are up on the green ready to open in the morning where they will be filled with goodies for you to purchase.

There will be 120 market stalls and pitches on the oval including a new providore tent, where you can sample fine foods and whisky.

Download the timetable pdf, or visit the various pages on this site for workshops, wellness area, performing arts and artist talks. This year there are some incredible new performing Arts acts, and an extra venue at St Cuthbert’s Church. 

Don’t miss out on this year’s silent auction – see further below for some of the lovely things you could win if you put in the best bid!

Retrospective Exhibition: D Thornton Hick 1941-2013

This year there will be a retrospective of the work of the late, D Thornton Hick, a much admired former Darlington resident and artist.

Wellness and Art Workshops

This year we have combined the Wellness and Art workshops in one area. Entry is free though a gold coin donation is always welcomed. Donations help us to keep the festival going and bring in the variety of workshops and performers that you love.

Have-a-Go – Junior to young adult workshops

There is a full line up all weekend with multiple workshops for kids, teens and young adults. Make something and take something home!

Performing Arts

Three venues: The Main Stage, the Wine Tent and NEW this year at St Cuthbert’s Church on Darlington Road.

Dozens of acts – big and loud, small and intimate, jazz, blues, a Capella, rock, acoustic. You name it, we’ve got it! Look at the timetable for more information.

Open Art

Sculpture on the Scarp 

Sculptures on the Scarp was  a huge hit in 2018 and this year under the Curatorship of Mikaela Castledine it has attracted some really big names and some quite sizable pieces of work. Mikaela a veteran of Sculpture by the Sea, has the knowledge and passion to make the beautiful scarp at Darlington transition into an outdoor gallery to rival the pacific ocean.

It is a testament to Mikaela’s creativity and drive that we are also able to welcome several renowned Sculpture by the Sea (Cottesloe and Bondi) artists including; Ron Gomboc a decadian at both, Johannes Pannekoek winner of Bondi 2016 . 

We also welcome back the much loved artists: Angus Skene, Ian Kay, Claire Davenhall and Sam Hopkins to name just a few. There will be 30 artists showing this year and their work will be spread out from Glen road over to the oval behind the tennis courts

Junior Artists

Pop in and look around. You will find yourself swimming with the talent. This year’s theme is Under the Sea, come and marvel at the skill and imagination of these 4-12 artists. There are four categories of: Paint, Sketch, 3D and Mixed Media and four age groups: 4-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12

Silent Auction – In Darlington Hall

How to Find Us

We are in the heart of Darlington Village on Pine Terrace, on the railway reserve between the oval and Glen road and at St Cuthbert’s Church on Darlington Road.

Why not take the bus this year?  Click here for the Bus Timetable It will drop you off and pick you back up just a few metres from the event.  Transperth buses run all day from Midland Station, bus Stand 7.  And from Glen Forrest back toward Midland.

Walk, drive or take the bus – this is where you will find us!

The Wall – Paint-a- Brick

It looks so good!  Over the course of a weekend, a plain brick wall was transformed into a work of art, by YOU the festival visitors. We have a time lapse video of the event.

We estimate that around 15,000 visitors attended in 2018 and we expect at least as many this year.  Fingers crossed that the weather will be perfect.

A big thank you to our Sponsors  and Donors.  We rely on your generosity to make this festival happen.    Thank you too, to all of the volunteers that are coming to help us this year. 

And of course thank you to our Committee members for the many hours of work that each and everyone of you put in. We could not do it without you!  I know that you will agree that being on the committee is rewarding.

Join the committee

If you are interested in joining our committee, please drop us a line on committee@darlingtonartsfestival.com

Share your memories

Do you have some fond memories and maybe even some photographs of past festivals that you would like to share on our new website?  Please drop us a line.