Mrs FINOCCHIARO - 2015-09-17
Territorians have enjoyed a plethora of festival events this year from the Top End to the Red Centre, and I do not think anyone in this House could argue that the Italian Festival was not the best event of the entire festival season this year. It was a brilliant event. I congratulate the Italian community for putting on such a wonderful festival. I hope it continues well and truly into the future.
Apart from the Italian Festival, and apart from the enjoyment factor, celebration of skills, talent, culture, artistry and the fact thousands of locals have had a feast of fun through these events, I am curious if the numbers stack up.
Can the minister please tell us whether these festivals have performed as well this year as they have in the past?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the Italian Festival this year, as I did the Greek Glenti. I thank the member for her question.
As honourable members appreciate, it is not an easy task to pull together big events or even smaller grassroots occasions. Literally hundreds of volunteers and not-for-profit organisations do that every year with the proud backing of the Northern Territory government.
I do not have time to go through all the wonderful festivals we have had in the NT so far this year, but I will pay special tribute to a handful. The Darwin Festival takes more than 100 staff under General Manager Mark Crees to deliver each year. This year we had a new artistic director, Andrew Ross, and they have done it all extremely well.
I believe there was something for everyone in this year’s festival, from the popular and acclaimed Darwin musical, Prison Songs, to wonderful theatre offerings like Poli-Gobble with Max Gillies, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Northern Territory government made the festival possible, with $1.32m in funding provided for this year’s operations and multi-arts program. It was all part of our aim to build a confident culture that supports significant occasions and events. Dr Crees says this critical support covers around one-third of the festival’s expenditure and allows us to leverage corporate sector support and employ over 100 people in delivering the festival, and this year it welcomed around 800 artists.
The facts and figures speak volumes for the festival. Around 90 000 attended the festival. Box office income was around $950 000, with 26 000 tickets sold. Thirty shows were sold out, an estimated 450 local artists were produced, website users increased by 12% on last year, and social media following increased by 32%.
It is not just the Darwin Festival which has yielded good results this year. In Central Australia they have also had a solid period of cultural celebrations, such as the Desert Mob 25th anniversary, Bush Bands Bash, Desert Divas, Desert Song Festival, Alice Desert Festival and the Alice Springs Beanie Festival, all of them supported by the Northern Territory government. They have had some good turnouts.
Music NT Manager, Mark Smith, said the Bush Bands Bash had the biggest audience it has ever had. The story is similar for the Desert Song Festival and the Beanie Festival; attendance was great and sales, especially at the Beanie Festival, were up.
The Territory government is proud to make it possible for these festivals to occur and thrive.
Apart from the Italian Festival, and apart from the enjoyment factor, celebration of skills, talent, culture, artistry and the fact thousands of locals have had a feast of fun through these events, I am curious if the numbers stack up.
Can the minister please tell us whether these festivals have performed as well this year as they have in the past?
ANSWER
Mr Deputy Speaker, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the Italian Festival this year, as I did the Greek Glenti. I thank the member for her question.
As honourable members appreciate, it is not an easy task to pull together big events or even smaller grassroots occasions. Literally hundreds of volunteers and not-for-profit organisations do that every year with the proud backing of the Northern Territory government.
I do not have time to go through all the wonderful festivals we have had in the NT so far this year, but I will pay special tribute to a handful. The Darwin Festival takes more than 100 staff under General Manager Mark Crees to deliver each year. This year we had a new artistic director, Andrew Ross, and they have done it all extremely well.
I believe there was something for everyone in this year’s festival, from the popular and acclaimed Darwin musical, Prison Songs, to wonderful theatre offerings like Poli-Gobble with Max Gillies, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
The Northern Territory government made the festival possible, with $1.32m in funding provided for this year’s operations and multi-arts program. It was all part of our aim to build a confident culture that supports significant occasions and events. Dr Crees says this critical support covers around one-third of the festival’s expenditure and allows us to leverage corporate sector support and employ over 100 people in delivering the festival, and this year it welcomed around 800 artists.
The facts and figures speak volumes for the festival. Around 90 000 attended the festival. Box office income was around $950 000, with 26 000 tickets sold. Thirty shows were sold out, an estimated 450 local artists were produced, website users increased by 12% on last year, and social media following increased by 32%.
It is not just the Darwin Festival which has yielded good results this year. In Central Australia they have also had a solid period of cultural celebrations, such as the Desert Mob 25th anniversary, Bush Bands Bash, Desert Divas, Desert Song Festival, Alice Desert Festival and the Alice Springs Beanie Festival, all of them supported by the Northern Territory government. They have had some good turnouts.
Music NT Manager, Mark Smith, said the Bush Bands Bash had the biggest audience it has ever had. The story is similar for the Desert Song Festival and the Beanie Festival; attendance was great and sales, especially at the Beanie Festival, were up.
The Territory government is proud to make it possible for these festivals to occur and thrive.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016