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Latest Press Release - UNDER THE BLUE MOON WAKES THE DEAD

•  Announcement and opening night of the inaugural Under The Blue Moon Art Prize at Polymorph Gallery, Enmore Road, Enmore with judges Miss Death (FBi’s Naked City), Sean Lowry and Will Coles. Finalists have been selected and their chosen works will be on display at the gallery from Tuesday 27th October until 6th November.

• Tuesday 27th October also sees those of an artistic bent grabbing their sketchpads and heading to the ArtHouse Hotel on Pitt Street for an evening of life drawing with a difference at Dr. Sketchy’s. Participants are invited to produce their creations to real-life models – this year we are proud to attract such great models such as Lola The Vamp, Venus Vamp and Herbie Strangelove.

• A free event – Gothic Trivia returns on Thursday 28th October at Kelly’s On King, Newtown. Expect to have your memory tortured so gather your winning team now – there’s fabulous prizes up for grabs!

• On Friday 30th October take a step back in time with the opening of Theatre of Blood at the Newtown Theatre. A late-night horror program modelled on the cult ultra-violent horror theatre, the Grand Guignol, which ran in Paris through the first half of the twentieth century.

• Under The Blue Moon Festival will also be proud hosts of Club Blink on Friday 30th October where dark leaning bands such as Vandolls and Familia will be showcasing their sophisticated and exciting tunes.

• Australia’s largest alternative fashion weekend will be just one of the highlights of Festival Market Day on Saturday 31st October. Local and national artists will be featuring their handmade and unusual wares in the local dark-leaning shops and stalls along the bohemian Gothic Mile otherwise known as Enmore Road and Newtown Main Square (The Hub) along with some unique and cool street performers including a harp player. This is your opportunity to snap up some beautiful and extraordinary presents for yourself and the special people in your life. You can also purchase some very special trick or treat show bags and enter the very special coffin raffle.

• The other highlights of Festival Market Day are the highly educational and enthusiastic lectures hosted by funeral parlour owners from Simplicity Funerals. You can discover the history of scent and perfumes and create your own, hear the history and story of absinthe and the oft misconceptions, as well as delving into Sydney’s notorious gangster past, discover the ritualistic nature of blood rites, delve into the unknown and be taken on a journey of contacting those who have passed over, and last but not least, Lance Proctor the youngest male embalmer in Australian history will surprise you with his fascinating obsessions and tales of weirdness from the crypt.

• Also during the day there is photographic exhibition featuring local photographers specialising in the dark and alternative lifestyle. An antique horse-drawn hearse will lead a motorcade of vintage hearses along King Street and Under The Blue Moon Festival will host Australia's first All Hallows Eve Gothic Mass with candlelit procession at St. Luke’s Anglican Church.

HI RESOLUTION PRESS SHOTS

With wardrobes dominated by a deep shade of heat-loving black big black coats, long black boots and an outrageous hair design, a sweaty summer must not be a time of year that's looked forward to.

Sydney 'Goths' will come together for the Under the Blue Moon Festival in Enmore this week, to celebrate the commonalities and differences within one of Sydney's many sub-cultures.

The festival features Australia's first Gothic Mass, fashion shows, swap and sell markets, music and, of course, a chance to show off on the street.

Rector Henry-Edwards - Interviewed on ABC.net.au about the UTBM Gothic Mass
Listen to the Interview
It's a church service where the congregation could be more fancily dressed than the priest.

Australia's first Gothic mass at St Luke's Church, Enmore on Wednesday October 1 will have all the usual features of an Anglican service, but will be targeted towards those who have an interest in things 'Gothic' and the 'darker side of life'.

The Mass is just one component of the 'Under the Blue Moon Festival' that celebrates 'Goth' subculture, its fashion, music and lifestyle.

Leading the service will be the Reverend Gwilym Henry-Edwards, who's understanding of the lifestyle of 'Goths' comes not only from living in Sydney's inner west, but also from the fact that his daughter is a fan of the style.

Australian Gothic
Audio slideshow: Sydney's darkest sub-culture swept into St Luke's Anglican Church to worship at Australia's first Gothic Mass.

HYMNS were sidelined for the music of Nick Cave and a choral cover of the heavy metal band Metallica, and candles lit the church of St Luke's Anglican, casting the Enmore church in long shadow.

Australia's first goth Mass was held last night, a key part of the nascent Under The Blue Moon Festival, an alternative event for Sydney's goth subculture which has a penchant for all things black and unconventional.

The goth Mass has all the regular features of an Anglican service, but has been adapted to those who may be interested in Christianity with a twist and in the darker side of life.

Reverend Gwilym Henry-Edwards, whose daughter is a fan of the goth Mass, led the candlelight service for the small congregation gathered around the altar, with incense, holy water, vestments and a disc jockey spinning secular tracks such as Cave's cover of Bob Dylan's Death Is Not The End.