Entertainment reigned victorious despite the dreary weather during Ourimbah’s Create2258 festival, writes Clara Stacey

They say all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately, the same goes for Ourimbah Campus’ 2014 art and creativity festival. Create2258 was a success to say the least, with Central Coast students sketching, painting and hashtagging their way through two action-packed days of fun and imagination.

Chef Phil’s cooking demonstration impressed us all with a fantastic display of culinary colour, and best of all, free food! His Tandoori Chicken Dish was to die for, topped off with a crisp salad and mint yoghurt. But things only got better as he served up his second dish: Pad Ka-Prow Moo – a spicy Thai breakfast stir fry made with pork mince and chilli.

Sketch Mash-Up artist, Angela, got improvisational with students lining up to get their portrait drawn with a twist: two random characteristics were picked to add quirk to the sketches – some of which allowed for a Robot transformation, Flintstones inspired hairstyles and fancy spectacles.

Hoola-hooping tap dancers and acoustic musicians roamed the campus on Wednesday, adding to the creative atmosphere. Live bands played reggae and ukulele inspired music in the quad: a spectacular inspiration for students contributing to the Billyara Aboriginal Artwork. The workshop’s artist, Brett Parker, told us of Dreamtime creation stories, his personal heritage, while showing us traditional painting techniques.

Thursday’s outside activities were washed out by rain, but fun was still to be had elsewhere. A knitting workshop was held inside the Blue Room, while gorgeous snapshots were taken inside the photo booth. Entertainment reigned victorious despite the dreary weather, with performers dancing their way through the roofed pathways – brightening the day of many happy Instagrammers. The festival ended on a positive note, and proved to be a welcomed break from exam preparation for Central Coast students.

Let’s hope Create2258 is back next year to inspire us all to add a little more art to our lives! After all, as the great Emerson once said: every artist was first a UoN student… or, something like that.