Major new arts festival to headline 2019 winter events season
Date published: 11 December 2018
Townsville will cement its place of the capital of arts and cultural in the North, with Council to host the inaugural Northern Australian Festival of Arts next year.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said she was proud to deliver on another promise to the local community by hosting an annual arts and cultural festival.
“The Northern Australian Festival of Arts will be held in July, and builds on our already world-class cultural winter events season – which includes the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Strand Ephemera and many others,” Cr Hill said.
“We are going to build on the success of Festival 2018, which was a party the likes of which the city had never seen before.
“During Festival 2018, more than 700 performers – mostly local – entertained 100,000 people over 12 days in April this year, with Strand Park transformed into Uncontained and Spiegeltents hosting huge acts in Queens Gardens.
“A Spiegeltent will return for an extended period in Queens Gardens and host local, national and international acts during the Festival.”
Community and Cultural Development Committee Chair Cr Colleen Doyle said the Northern Australian Festival of Arts would help nurture the city’s established and emerging performers.
“We have a huge amount of artistic and creative talent here in Townsville and it’s important that we provide a local platform for them,” Cr Doyle said.
“Council is hoping to grow the Festival to become a Northern Fringe similar to the events held in March in Adelaide.
“Next July, Townsville will be showcased nationally with the Northern Australian Festival of Arts, the city’s sporting calendar and winter events season.
“This will be a festival for locals and visitors to celebrate our rich cultural life in tropical North Queensland.”
