03/09/2026
We're kick-starting a series of How To Junction guides featuring familiar faces and communities sharing their pathways through the program.
Cheat sheets curated for you to squeeze the most out of our Spring festival.
First up is Emily-Rose Wills, Creative Producer of Junction Arts Festival and someone who has grown up with, and alongside the festival.
What's one thing we can't miss at this year's Junction?
‣ I'm going to cheat and say two: Malcolm Johnson in The Secret Life of Eels with Where Water Meets, an ecologist, geographer and self-described eel advocate; and KATTLEYA at Resonance Rising with The Yoga Loft Launceston. One explores eel skin instruments and our relationship with rivers, the other brings movement and live music together in the morning light, high above the city.
How would you describe the programming this year?
‣ Considered is the word I keep coming back to. Junction is intentionally interdisciplinary, with loud nights and quiet mornings, a mix of ticketed and free, work that challenges and work that's simply fun. We're also taking over unexpected spaces - an old menswear shop, empty offices, a church, a backyard and stables, turning familiar places into somewhere to look, listen and experience differently.
Prepare an itinerary for someone new to Junction:
‣ Pick one or two key events each day and build around them. Start at the Festival Hub in Prince's Square, then explore: A Stretch of the Imagination Thursday; Making at Design Tasmania and Nook (ROOKE) Friday; hands-on workshops, Art Walk and Emily Sanzaro Tasmanian Harpist’s Mixtape Marathon Saturday; and the Great Junction Dog Show, The Secret Life of Eels and a final night at the Hub on Sunday.
Describe an iconic Junction memory:
‣ Dan Koop's The Stream / The Boat / The Shore / The Bridge, 2013. You made your own way around and over the river, handing your thoughts and choices over to the artists. I remember sitting in a rowboat talking about my mum's death, and still have the Polaroid I was given on the bridge thirteen years later.
The work asked you to give as much of yourself to it as you hoped to get out of it. I did. It changed the way I see Launceston and live art and that's what I want for anyone coming to Junction for the first time ❣️
Explore the program via www.junctionartsfestival.com.au
Images supplied by Emily-Rose Wills and courtesy of Chris Crerar.
