Ocker — First Nations Circus in Public Space
Date
Fri, 9 Oct 2026
Time
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Location
Yarraville, VIC
About this event
Soft bodies pressed against hard concrete — this is circus in pursuit of us. Forget poetic: this is Aussie culture chewed up and spewed onto the streets. A show in motion, Ocker is a roving circus show tearing through the streets on a portable railway track built in real time. This modern-day hunting party weaves through crowds, laying track wherever the chase leads — down laneways, through parks and over tram lines, the troupe chasing something just out of reach. Charging forward with single-minded determination, they drag the audience along for the ride. The city becomes a playground for strange encounters, risky acrobatics and absurd acts of endurance as circus erupts in the most unexpected places. Improvised scenes constantly derail the hunt as the troupe negotiates crowds, obstacles and their own terrible ideas. Swept up in the chaos of the chase, Ocker waits for nobody — keeping up is entirely your responsibility. Ocker is created by Na Djinang Circus, which envisions a bold future for Blak circus on unceded Indigenous lands, deeply informed by Indigenous cultural knowledges and ways of being. Working from the western suburbs of Naarm, the company elevates Blak Australian circus nationally and internationally, fostering new practices, works and futures. Presented by Melbourne Fringe and Fringe Funded as part of Deadly Fringe. This session: Friday 9 October at 5:00pm, Yarraville Pop-up Park, Yarraville. Ocker plays twelve free sessions across five public sites during the 2026 Melbourne Fringe Festival — Commonwealth Reserve in Williamstown, Yarraville Pop-up Park, Nicholson Street Mall in Footscray, Fed Square in Melbourne and the Civic Hall forecourt in Ballarat. Every session is listed separately on Blak Nation so you can pick the one nearest you.
Good to know
Free and unticketed — no booking is required, simply arrive at the start point. Melbourne Fringe lists the session as wheelchair accessible and language no barrier, and marks the show a Family Friendly Event. Ocker is a promenade show that moves across multiple sites and requires audiences to be able to move with the performance; it is a predominantly standing event. Each session runs for about 60 minutes. Content warning: colonisation.
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