Crossing the ditch: strengthening trans-Tasman touring

With New Zealand and Australia such close neighbours, why aren’t more artists focused on reciprocal tours?
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Image: Echwalu Photography

Despite the fact that New Zealand has a flourishing festival scene, including the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, the New Zealand Fringe Festival, and the Dunedin Fringe, relatively few Australian performers make the trek across the Tasman each year, seemingly preferring to save their time and money for seasons at the juggernaut of all festivals, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts