Your Guide to Albany

To commemorate 80 years since the Siege of Tobruk, the Princess Royal Fortress is hosting a free exhibition which explores the Australian story that emerged from this 242-day long siege.

The Rats of Tobruk captures the unique story of the Australian-led garrison that held the Libyan port against the Afrika Corps in World War II.

After the 6th Australian Division had captured the city from the Italians on 21 January 1941, one of Germany’s best generals, Erwin Rommel, surrounded Tobruk with the Afrika Corps.

By April, the Australians and British Army were besieged by German forces.

These soldiers played a prominent role in the town’s defence, with those who served there becoming known as the ‘Rats of Tobruk’.

The 24-panel exhibition tells the tale of how the 35,000 allies, 14,000 of which being Australian soldiers, gained their name and weathered the unrelenting forces of one of the longest sieges in British military history.

Princess Royal Fortress Curator David Theodore encouraged the Albany community to visit the exhibition and learn about this defining historical moment in Australian history.

“The Rats of Tobruk exhibition embodies the core of the Australian spirit,” he said.

“It is important that we recognise these historical events, even 80 years on, as they form the foundations of our national identity and can work to inform our future.”

This exhibition is available to view from 9am to 4pm in the Barracks Building of the Princess Royal Fortress, from 28 August 2021 through to 13 February 2022.

Great Southern residents are encouraged to join the Garage Sale Trail, Australia’s largest sustainability and community festival, when it returns bigger than ever in November 2021.

Garage Sale Trail will take place across the first three weekends in November, encouraging residents, schools and groups to join over 400,000 others nationwide in hosting or shopping the trail.

A series of online workshops will be delivered across the first weekend in November, followed by two weekends where residents can sell the items they no longer need or snag a guilt-free bargain.

Shire of Denmark Chief Executive Officer David Schober said the Shire was glad to be once again bringing the popular event to the region, encouraging locals to get involved.

“Our community here in Denmark and the wider Great Southern is passionate about the environment and getting behind reduce, reuse, recycle activities locally so the Garage Sale Trail is a very welcome event on our community calendar,” Mr Schober said.

“Now that registrations for the nation-wide event are open for 2021, we encourage our community to get behind the initiative and to sign up to take part.”

Alongside the Garage Sale Trail, Fossicker’s Tip Shop will be hosting a second-hand market on Sunday 21 November 2021.

City of Albany Coordinator Sustainability and Waste Strategy Julie Passmore said joining the second-hand market will be a fun way for schools, community groups and individuals to participate.

“This is a great opportunity for sellers to come together and collectively attract more shoppers, while having fun and being part of the circular economy,” she said.

“In a circular economy items are kept in use for as long as possible, making the most of the resources that go into making them.”

“It includes buying items built to last, caring for and repairing your things, and passing things on to someone else when you don’t need them anymore.”

To register a sale or shop the trail, head to garagesaletrail.com.au/albany. Those interested in hosting a stall at the Fossicker’s second-hand market are encouraged to contact the City of Albany Waste team on 68203000.

The City of Albany’s Christmas festivities are double in size this year, combining the community’s traditional pageant with a new Christmas attraction that is sure to engage the whole family.

 The inaugural Christmas Lights Trail is coming to Albany, with 14 twinkling life-size installations spreading the Christmas spirit throughout Albany’s CBD.

 From Saturday 27 November, the lights will shine every night at various locations to form a trail from the top of York Street down to Anzac Peace Park.

 As part of the City’s Support Local initiative, attendees have an opportunity to win one of three shopping vouchers from a business of their choice.

 To enter, participants must upload a selfie of themselves with any of the Christmas Lights Trail installations to Instagram or Facebook, with the hashtag #albanychristmaslightstrail.

 Adding to the festivities, on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 December, the City will welcome the return of the popular Twilight Markets in the Town Square and Alison Hartman Gardens.

 The Markets will celebrate the unique crafts of local artisans from 4pm on Friday and 3pm on Saturday.

 The highlight of the Christmas Festival will be the Christmas Pageant, which will bring its festive cheer to York Street from 6pm on Saturday 4 December.

 A variety of community groups will set the town aglow with their sparkling, moving floats.                                                                                                          

Kids of all ages can meet Santa who will be available for photos on both Friday and Saturday, with times and locations to be announced.

 City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington welcomed the return of the moving pageant.

 “The Christmas Festival and Pageant provides a wonderful opportunity for family and friends to come together at this special time of year,” he said.

 “We are fortunate to have the pageant back for 2021 with a moving float parade again for everyone to enjoy.”

 For more information on all events, head to www.cityofalbanyevents.com

 The Christmas Festival and Pageant is proudly supported by Lotterywest, the Road Safety Commission and Rio Tinto.

An emotional and reflective collective exhibition Eight: The Shift and Saudade will open from 9 November at the Albany Town Hall.

Featuring Margaret River artists Christopher Young and Elisa Markes-Young, the exhibitions explore challenging topics including the complexity of end-of-life and lifelong migrant experiences.

Young’s exhibition of photographic work Eight: The Shift considers how individuals respond to the experiences they encounter when faced with death.

The project was realised when Young’s father was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the subsequent experiences Young faced as he dealt with his father’s passing.

Young said his relationship with his father was distant and often dysfunctional.

“Our collective apathy left us with limited shared adult experiences as well as an inability to communicate,” he said.

“Despite his diagnosis and the associated ‘deadline’, we never found the language to sit down to discuss his looming death.”

Saudade is a journey through Markes-Young’s life as a resident of multiple countries including Poland, Germany and Australia.

Markes-Young’s work is inspired by memories from her childhood and the resultant feelings of displacement and loss as she moved from country to country from a young age.

Her textile and paper works are made almost entirely by hand and intend to convey a feeling of a bitter-sweet melancholy that the Polish call ‘tesknota’.

This exhibition runs until 7 December 2021 at the Albany Town Hall.

Explore the militarised skies of Great Britain, Japan, Germany and more at the Princess Royal Fortress exhibition Warbirds; Aircraft of the Second World War.

This unique exhibition returns to the Princess Royal Fortress with more than 65 model aircraft, each hand-built and painted by Kendenup resident John Wilson.

Princess Royal Fortress Curator David Theodore said he was pleased to have the opportunity to redisplay the exhibition over the busy tourist season.
“The models take visitors on a journey to their own childhood, when they may have made similar model replicas,” he said.

“That sense of nostalgia while in the historical site of the Princess Royal Fortress makes for a unique exhibition.”

Warbirds; Aircraft of the Second World War is a free exhibition, and will be available for viewing from 1 December 2021 in the West Wing of the Married Quarters of the Princess Royal Fortress, between 9am and 4pm.