Festivals and conferences - News and events

Festivals | Conferences | Call for entries | Announcements

The Festivals and Conferences news page covers events with a mixture of art forms. For music festivals, see the Performance news page. For writers festivals, see the Language and Literature news page. See also Film and Digital Media festivals.

Festivals

National Multicultural Festival - Canberra

5–7 February 2010

The 2010 Festival will begin with Carnival in the City and a Multicultural Marketplace on Friday evening. Program includes Food and Dance Spectacular, Greek Glendi, Contact Canberra and Chinese New Year celebrations. Various locations.

Festivale - Launceston, Tasmania

12–14 February 2010

Festivale 2010 will offer a menu of quality Tasmanian food and wine mixed with music, dance and street theatre. Festivale will feature 70 Tasmanian-grown and Tasmanian-made food and wine stalls and performances by The Black Sorrows, Russell Morris and James Reyne along with local bands. City Park.

Perth International Arts Festival - Perth

5 February – 1 March 2010

The 2010 Perth International Arts Festival includes a wide variety of events. Artists from Perth and the Great Southern play a special part in the festival, bringing a unique voice to the celebration through theatre, visual art, food, film and crochet! The festival also includes such performances as Life and Fate, based on the novel by Vasily Grossman, on resilience in one of history's darkest moments, a song performance, Antony and the Johnsons with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, astonishing physical feats creating an ever-changing landscape in Les Sept Planches de la Ruse, conceived and directed by Aurelien Bory, and a new version of Luigi Pirandello's metafictive play Six Characters in Search of an Author. Various locations.

Adelaide Festival - Adelaide

February – March 2010

The Adelaide Festival offers a jam-packed program across every genre for the festival's 50th anniversary, with plans to present over 250 performances, events and exhibitions in 33 venues throughout Adelaide. Various locations.

SheppARTon Festival - Shepparton, Victoria

March 2010

The SheppARTon Festival, in partnership with the University of Melbourne, is now in its 13th year featuring a program of film, food, music, performance and art. The Shepparton community is renowned for coming together when times are tough and for welcoming people escaping oppression or conflict. Various locations.

Jane Austen Festival of Australia - Canberra

15–18 April 2010

The Earthly Delights Historic Dance Academy presents the Jane Austen Festival, featuring music, fashion (costume), drama, dance, food, craft (sewing), books, readings, song, and talks, at various Canberra venues.

For more festivals see our Australian story on Festivals.

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Conferences

NARPACA Ticketing Professionals Conference: People: The Human Face of the Box Office - Sydney

10–12 February 2010

In this training, networking and trade-show event, ticketing professionals, who help deliver the service of live performance, will meet to share ideas, and discuss initiatives to ensure that technology does not distract from the fundamental importance of other resources in this area.  Topics include Conflict: Tactics for Effective Resolution, Box-office Skills, The Role of Ticketing in the Marketing a Cultural Icon, Access Control: An Overview of Technology and Techniques (on scanners), The Human Face of Technology and more. Sydney Marriot Hotel.

Arts-Activated Conference - Sydney

25–26 March 2010

The Arts Activated conference provides an opportunity for those passionate about the arts and disability sectors to come together to explore, debate, discuss and connect ideas and practice. Presented by Accessible Arts, the conference is for artists with and without a disability, arts workers, disability service providers, policy makers, funding bodies, festival organisers and volunteers, and cultural institutions. The conference theme, Arts – Access – Excellence, will feature in workshops, panels and performances with national and international speakers. Powerhouse Museum.

Junction 2010: 7th Regional Arts Australia National Conference - Launceston, Tasmania

26–29 August 2010

Junction 2010, the seventh biennial Regional Arts Australia national conference, is presented in partnership with Tasmanian Regional Arts and the host community Launceston. The core themes of the conference are Footprints (shaping identity and celebrating diversity), Threads (collaboration on beliefs, ideas, and meaning), Resilience (building capacity and resources) and Momentum (commitment to change).

Call for entries

Festivals Australia

Entries by 15 February 2010

The closing date for applications for the next round of Festivals Australia funding is 15 February 2010, for projects commencing on or after 1 July 2010. Festivals Australia is an Australian Government program which funds Australian regional and community festivals to present quality cultural projects. Funding is available to add a new or special sort of cultural activity.

Announcements

New Festivals Australia grants

17 November 2009

Arts Minister Peter Garrett announced funding of $420,500 for arts and cultural activities at 27 community festivals around Australia. 'Festivals in outer regional and remote communities will have the opportunity to add special arts and performance projects to their programs, such as dance workshops, storytelling, circus arts, puppetry and film,' Mr Garrett said. 'These new projects add exciting elements to the celebrations and help regional tourism, as well as community spirit, in these towns.' Mr Garrett welcomed the Indigenous-related theme of several of the festivals, including Merge Ahead at Palmerston festival in the Northern Territory, which also has a youth focus.

For more information see our Australian story on Festivals.

Key online resources

Film festivals

• Flickerfest International Short Film Festival - Sydney (January)
• Short & Sweet - Sydney (January - February)
• Tropfest - National (February)
• Adelaide Film Festival - Adelaide (February - March)
• Sydney Film Festival - Sydney (June)
• Revelation Film Festival - Perth (July)
• Melbourne International Film Festival - Melbourne (July - August)

Digital media

• Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth - Perth (September - November)

Writers festivals

• Perth Writers' Week - (February)
• Sydney Writers' Festival - (May - June)
• Noosa Long Weekend 2007 - (June)
• Canberra Readers and Writers Festival - (June)
• Byron Bay Writers Festival - (July)
• Melbourne Writers Festival - (August)
• Brisbane Writers Festival - (September)

Jazz festivals

• Eltham Jazz and Blues Heritage Festival - Victoria (January)
• Illawarra Annual Easterfest Jazz Festival - Wollongong (April)
• Valley Jazz Festival - Brisbane (April)
• Melbourne International Jazz Festival - Melbourne (May)
• Merimbula Jazz Festival - New South Wales (June)
• Noosa Jazz Festival - Noosa (August - September)
• Wangaratta Jazz Festival - Victoria (November)

Folk festivals

• Cygnet Folk Festival - Tasmania (January)
• Illawarra Folk Festival - New South Wales (January)
• Cobargo Folk Festival - New South Wales (February)
• National Folk Festival - Canberra (Easter)
• Uranquinty Folk Festival - New South Wales (October)
• Yungaburra Folk Festival - Queensland (October)
• Woodford Folk Festival - Queensland (December)

Festivals - New South Wales

• Sydney Festival - Sydney (January)
• Flickerfest - Sydney (January)
• Big Day Out - National (January - February)
• Mardi Gras Film Festival - Sydney (March)
• Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras - Sydney (March)
• Thirroul Seaside & Arts Festival - Thirroul (April)
• Sydney Film Festival - Sydney (June)

Festivals - Victoria

• The Melbourne International Comedy Festival - Melbourne (February - April)
• Melbourne Moomba Festival - Melbourne (March)
• Melbourne International Film Festival - Melbourne (July - August)
• Apollo Bay Music Festival - Apollo Bay (April)

Festivals - South Australia

• Adelaide Festival of the Arts - Adelaide (February - March)
• Adelaide International Film Festival - Adelaide (February - March)
• Adelaide Cabaret Festival - Adelaide (June)

Festivals - other states

• Ten Days on the Island - Tasmania (March - April)
• The Taste Festival - Hobart (December - January)
• Festival of Darwin - Darwin (August)
• National Multicultural Festival, Canberra - Canberra (February)
• National Folk Festival - Canberra (March)
• Perth International Arts Festival - Perth (February - March)