City North Fest! The Shared Futures Series: Cardigan Street Takeover
Project Context & Rationale: Turning Cardigan Street into a Playground of Possibilities
Urban spaces can often feel static, disconnected from the communities they’re meant to serve. In October 2024, Cardigan Street in the City North Precinct came alive, breaking this mould. City North Fest wasn’t just an event—it was a bold experiment in reimagining public space. Timed to coincide with the Melbourne Fringe Festival and Melbourne International Games Week, the festival transformed the street into a vibrant playground of ideas, sparking conversations about the future of urban living.
From dawn till dusk, the street pulsed with energy. RMIT’s Future Play Lab invited participants to step into the year 2050 through a live-action role-playing experience, challenging them to envision a new kind of city. Around every corner, performances, installations, and interactive activities blurred the lines between art, technology, and community. Local artists and cultural partners showcased diverse expressions—from experimental fashion and sustainable food to immersive films and robotic interactions—each exploring the challenges and possibilities of tomorrow.
But City North Fest was more than a day of entertainment. It was a catalyst for connection. Conversations sparked in the street carried on long after the event, weaving new threads of collaboration and community engagement. The festival didn’t just activate a physical space; it ignited imaginations, laying the groundwork for an ongoing dialogue about innovation, sustainability, and the evolving identity of the city. Through this celebration, the City North Precinct began to redefine itself—not just as a place to visit, but as a community to belong to.
Collaboration & Stakeholders: Where Artists, Innovators, and Dreamers Unite
The success of City North Fest went far beyond the event itself, built on strong collaborations that would influence future initiatives in the precinct. External partners, including Melbourne Fringe Festival, Melbourne International Games Week, and the Environmental Film Festival, helped to broaden the event’s reach and ensure its cultural significance. These partnerships provided a platform for ongoing engagement with the local arts and cultural industries, bringing diverse voices and ideas together.
Internally, RMIT’s network of multi-disciplinary partners from the Fight Food Waste Collaborative Research Centre to the Centre of Digital Ecosystems (CODE), and the Social Innovation Precinct played pivotal roles in delivering the festival’s broad range of activities. Their continued collaboration will shape future iterations of similar events and projects within the precinct, ensuring a lasting impact on the community and contributing to the growth of an innovation-driven ecosystem.
Key Activities & Deliverables: Playtesting the City of 2050: No Rules, Just Ideas
While City North Fest culminated in a vibrant day of activities, its impact extended well beyond the initial celebration. The transformation of Cardigan Street into a car-free zone with Zomes, a parklet, and greening initiatives set the stage for future possibilities in the precinct. Although inclement weather briefly interrupted the outdoor activities, the flexibility of the planning team allowed for a smooth transition of the event indoors, ensuring that the day’s momentum continued unabated.
Throughout the day, participants engaged with a variety of future-focused activations, including the Future Play Lab’s speculative role-play, performances by local artists like The Hopefuls and Crate Women, and workshops on sustainable fashion, food, and urban design. These activities were designed to spark dialogue and imagination, encouraging visitors to think critically about the future of Melbourne and its environment.
The City North Fest also provided an ongoing platform for student engagement, offering internships, volunteer opportunities, and creative showcases that highlighted RMIT’s commitment to experiential learning and community involvement. The program was intentionally designed as a catalyst for ongoing collaborations, offering opportunities for future students, researchers, and local businesses to continue contributing to the precinct’s development.
Insights & What’s Next: Lessons from the Streets: How City North Fest Changed the Game
While the immediate success of City North Fest was evident, its long-term impact lies in the lessons learned and the potential for growth in future iterations. Feedback highlighted the need for more accessible event signage and clearer communication about activity locations, ensuring that future events would be even more inclusive and user-friendly. Additionally, the weather challenges underscored the importance of designing outdoor spaces with weather resilience in mind, providing flexibility for future activations.
The experience of City North Fest has set the stage for further innovations within the City North Precinct, encouraging ongoing partnerships and projects that explore the future of urban living and cultural collaboration. The festival’s success in fostering community engagement, showcasing RMIT’s research, and connecting students with real-world applications suggests that City North Fest will continue to play an important role in the evolving cultural landscape of the precinct.
