Focus on local artists a winner for Perth Festival
AC/DC tribute Highway to Hell and other events deliver an economic impact of $85 million
The Perth Festival ended earlier this year just as the global pandemic broke out. On the day in March that news of Australia’s first COVID-19 death emerged — an elderly travel agent from Perth — the festival brought 150,000 people out onto the streets to celebrate its closing event, the Highway to Hell tribute to AC/DC frontman and Fremantle son Bon Scott.
It was a timing miracle for which Perth Festival executive director Nathan Bennett is grateful. And it was notable that despite rising panic over the spread of China’s pandemic, four out of every 10 people at the Bon Scott tribute had ventured out to attend a festival event for the first time.
“We would have been in big trouble if the timing had been different,” says Bennett, “but fortunately that final event is imprinted in people’s minds now because it was such an extravagant success that contrasted with the strictures of what followed.”
In a forensic analysis commissioned by the 2020 Perth Festival, released on Wednesday, the figures tell that story of narrow but blessed escape. Although three weeks of lucrative festival film screenings had to be cancelled, the festival broke its previous box office record with ticket sales of nearly $6 million, an 11 per cent increase on 2019.
The Culture Counts report combines ticketing data with wider expenditure analysis and a survey of 5,435 people. It found the 2020 festival’s direct economic impact from spending by audiences, artists and the festival itself added up to $30.3 million, up 60 per cent from 2019. “This provided flow-on total economic value to the state of $84.7 million,” it says.
But perhaps the most revealing finding relates to the impact on West Australian-based artists, who represented 75 per cent of the 2,286 participating artists. According to the report, the festival put $10.8 million into the pockets of local artists, workers, suppliers and contractors. It was largely due to festival director Iain Grandage giving star billing to West Australian works among the 10 new commissions, 12 world premieres and seven Australian premieres.
“That three quarters of our artists were local doesn’t mean we’re less of an international festival,” observes Bennett. “It means we’re sourcing more events of an international standard locally.”
Grandage’s eclectic mix of international and local events saw a substantial rise in festival first-timers, who made up nearly a quarter of the 413,076 total attendances and 42 per cent of those drawn to Highway to Hell. For the businesses lining the 10km stretch, the highway event was pure heaven; food and drink bought by fans doubled their normal trade and delivered a direct economic impact of $6.1 million for that single event.
Grandage came to his first of four festivals with a single-minded commitment to WA performance. His first week was entirely devoted to indigenous content, from a world-first Shakespeare play in Noongar language to Bunggul, the multimedia Yolngu tribute to the late singer Gurrumul.
“That first week’s programming could have been seen as a risky move from an international arts festival,” says Bennett. “Yet people flocked to it, and the response was beyond our expectations. People talk about that week as being transformational for them.”
The analysis is a timely reminder of the economic wealth deriving from cultural events. “Out of a state and local government investment of $9.5 million, $30 million is a pretty impressive return, and that’s before you consider the flow-on impact to the local economy which takes us up to nearly $85 million.”
That most of the artists were local is a source of pride to Bennett, and the key to a viable future.
He says he spent six weeks after the festival modelling financial and operating options for next year’s event, adapting it with every lockdown measure. “All of the assumptions we made seem to be about right, for example that bringing in artists and crews will remain difficult.
“We think we will not be able to bring in international work next year. We’re quite comfortable with that, given that so much of the last one was local. People really value the investment we’re making in the local arts community.
“But the big question for everyone is what the social distancing requirements might be, inside and outside venues. And then there’s the question of what people will be prepared to do,” he says.
“Even if they were prepared to attend a concert, will they want to go into the concert hall with only 300 people in there, in spaced-out seating? Will social distancing restrictions ease or, in a second wave outbreak, be put back in place?”
The festival will be “quite conservative” when assessing next year’s income, he says. “We’ll have to take into account the economic conditions, because we really want people to be able to afford to come. And that’s shared by all of our stakeholders.”
“The festival will play an important role in helping to rebuild the community and celebrate this place. People are craving the physical connection that cultural events offer.”