Huge 98 per cent of shows sold out at homegrown festival

DARWIN Festival 2020 broke a major sales record in its 41-year history despite COVID-19

Darwin Festival Artistic Director Felix Preval and chief executive James Gough with Drag Territory Divas in Festival Park. Darwin Festival broke record numbers this year.

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DARWIN Festival 2020 recorded its highest proportion of sold-out shows in the event’s 41-year history this year, despite being restricted to local performers and smaller venues.

DF20 Homegrown 2020 featured 396 artists performing at 253 free and ticketed events over a packed 11-day program.

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Ninety-four per cent of the artists were NT locals, after travel restrictions prevented most planned interstate artists from attending, and a huge 98 per cent of all shows were sellouts.

Darwin Festival artistic director Felix Preval said organisers had been blown away by the turnout.

“We had a record number of sold-out shows last year, but it was nowhere near 98 per cent. That’s not a statistics that any festival is pulling off,” he said.

Indigenous musician Shellie Morris performed at Darwin Festival. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

“I think the response is really a testament to the desire in the Darwin community to see local artists celebrated and succeed, especially in acknowledgment of what a trying time it’s been for the creative sector. That, and people were looking for a reason, after a difficult few months, to come together and celebrate, and we’ve been fortunate enough up here for that to be possible.”

Other changes made in line with coronavirus precautions included capped crowd numbers at Festival Park and the inclusion of online shows in the program for the first time. Mr Preval said some event changes could be retained in future.

“Going into the future, there is a really exciting kind of impetus to imagine how we engage with local artists more in the creation of new work,” he said.

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“It’s given us an opportunity to stand back and look constructively at how we run our event, and we’re very pleased we have been able to achieve what we have during a pandemic.”

NT Major Events Company chief executive Tim Watsford said the Darwin Festival team had done an excellent job showcasing the best talent the NT had to offer.

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“They have done a fantastic job kicking off the Top End’s delayed events season,” he said. “To see people enjoying Festival Park and soaking up the sights and sounds of the festival program was very welcome after so many months of doubt around events.”