Exit interview: Travis Tiddy, The Unconformity

After 15 years and seven festivals grown from the bedrock of Tasmania's West Coast, Tiddy reflects on growth, change and challenges during his time as Artistic Director and CEO.
A dark-haired and bearded man in his 40s smiles at the camera. He wears a dark blue striped shirt and stands against a black background.

In 2009, Travis Tiddy helped establish the biennial Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival, now known as Tasmania’s renowned West Coast arts festival, The Unconformity. He recently finished up as the festival’s Artistic Director and CEO, having decided earlier this year that it was the right time to move on.

‘I feel like we’ve achieved a lot and the organisation is on a really healthy footing. So it just felt like, organically, it was a good moment to support the organisation and myself to work out what’s next,’ Tiddy says.

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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