News

> Film > Features

Ditch the director!

Why do Australian festivals have a mania for moving their Artistic Directors on after only three or four years?

10 Feb 2017 12:00

Richard Watts

[This is archived content and may not display in the originally intended format.]

Writing and Publishing

Company Here and Now will perform Perhaps Hope at the 2017 Castlemaine State Festival. Photo by Karen Lowe.

It’s an accepted wisdom in Australia today that regular injections of fresh blood are beneficial for arts festivals but the insistence on turnover hasn’t always been usual practice.

The late David Blenkinsop was Artistic Director of Perth International Arts Festival for 24 years between 1975 and 1999, while on the east coast, Stephen Hall ran Sydney Festival for 18 years from 1977 to 1994.

Unlock this content?

Access this content and more

Join Now Login

Richard Watts

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