Diega announces 'ORTA', a one-day festival at Heide's sculpture park

In recent years, the name Diega has become a yearly reminder of NYE revelry, usually within a few hours of Naarm/Melbourne’s CBD. This month, however, the independent creative platform is moving beyond its usually festive timing and into early spring with ORTA, an eight-hour cultural experience held at Naarm’s Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Described as “part garden party, part day festival and part artistic experiment”, ORTA: A Day at the Sculpture Park will take place on Friday, September 25, across a variety of areas and disciplines.

Its inaugural programme spans eight stages and spaces, each tailored to different creative and artistic disciplines.

Plein Air, Crescent House, Field of Vision, Garden of Good Taste, Bioscope, the Radura and Nido Stages and Earthwork will involve music, painting, photography, contemporary performance, film, food, drinks and “creative exchange.”

Musically, Diega hones in on a number of exemplary and varied sonic pockets, with Papanya-originating artist Keanu Nelson, Naarm nine-piece Nikodimos Orchestra, Mixmag ANZ Cover Artist Cousin, D-Grade, Elsie, Now Always Fades, Pugilist and Swiss producer Matthew Dexter among the bill.

In its artistic curation, local artists Mark Bo Chu and House Arrest will paint live, while Golden Scissor Puppets and Crescent House explore contemporary dance and performance, with much more set to unfold around the park’s grounds alongside a variety of local chefs, growers and producers providing sustenance of a more literal kind.

Of the undertaking, Diega founder Cinzia Ubaldi is clearly driven by a broader creative appreciation that extends well beyond the dance floor, sharing:

“I’ve always been drawn to events that feel contextually coherent: where the space is the inspiration rather than just a backdrop. Heide is one of the most beautiful spaces in Melbourne, and its Sculpture Park already has such a strong relationship with form, stillness and landscape. ORTA is about bringing movement into that world.

Diega has always been shaped by more than music. My background is in dance, choreography, photography and film, and those disciplines have always influenced how I think about programming. ORTA is a chance to bring those worlds together and give them equal space.”

She continues, “We’ve spent eight years producing multi-day regional music and camping festivals, so while ORTA is our first day festival, we’re certainly not new to creating large-scale experiences. I’ve never wanted to do a day festival simply because that’s a popular format. I only want to make something when I genuinely believe there’s a gap, and I think there’s a gap for this: a day that brings music, art, performance, film and food together in a way that feels completely connected to its surroundings. That’s what made ORTA worth doing.”

ORTA ticket holders will also receive reduced entry to the Heide galleries from 10 AM - 4 PM, before the event begins.

Tickets to ORTA are available now.