When smaller is better

The impact of an arts festival is easily diffused in a major population centre. If you want your festival to really make a splash, hold it in a small town.

Junction Arts Festival; photo by Joanne Faulkner

In a major capital city it’s easy to miss an arts festival completely, unless you’re either in the know or at some stage pass through the precinct where the festival is concentrated.

As the likes of Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival Groningen and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe aptly demonstrate, cultural events have greater impact in smaller cities.

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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