Josephine Ridge
Carrillo Gantner AO
Hon Heidi Victoria MP Robert Doyle
Minister for the Arts
Lord Mayor of Melbourne
Melbourne Festival is coming up
for its 30th anniversary and, as we
approach that milestone, we are
re?ecting on our contribution past
and present and looking ahead to
the future.
What does Melbourne Festival
mean to you?
What does Melbourne Festival
mean to you?
What does the Festival mean
for Melbourne?
What I love about Melbourne Festival
is the opportunity to see a wonderful
diversity of outstanding international
and Australian work in a condensed
space of time, to experience the new
and celebrate the brave, to listen to
and learn from some of the world’s
best artists, and to exhaust myself
with immersion in the total Festival
experience. Happiness!
Melbourne Festival lets us see and
experience innovative and creative
local and international performers
and artists. It reinforces our status
as one of the world’s truly fabulous
cities of the arts, to both patrons
and artists.
Every October we are nudged – and
sometimes jolted – into Melbourne
Festival performances and events
that stir the senses and feed the
soul. The Festival is central to
Melbourne’s reputation as a hub
of innovation and culture, and
importantly, it stimulates the
local economy.
Melbourne Festival
Creative Director
The vibrancy, sophistication and
sheer impressiveness of this city is
inspiring in so many ways and our
aspiration is to respond in kind with
a festival that is undeniably of and
for Melbourne.
As our audience you have the
opportunity throughout the year
to attend a wealth of amazing
performances, ?lms and exhibitions
created by artists from home and
abroad. In October it is our role to
contribute something else: what we
as a festival o?er is a tantalising and
immersive experience that crosses
genres; that contextualises the work
of our local artists and international
visitors; and that allows us to
explore the beautiful and unique
urban landscape that Melbourne
o?ers from our magni?cent heritage
theatres to the new icons of the
21st century.
In short, we aim to celebrate
Melbourne and invite you to join
us for these 17 days of events
that showcase the extraordinary
achievement of some of the greatest
artists working today.
Melbourne Festival
President
What's your 'must see' show of
the Festival?
One of the delights of a great festival
is that you make choices and accept
surprises. Something that I anticipate
will be stellar may turn out to o?er
less than I had imagined, but more
often something totally unknown will
deliver a brilliant and unexpected
night out.
My Melbourne Festival is…
…a time to watch Melbourne shine,
and to have great experiences with
my daughter and our friends. It’s
often a welcome distraction from
my hectic schedule and delivers the
temporary escapism that is good for
the soul. Bring it on!
I love the ‘spaces between’ the
Festival – by this I mean the free
events. It is so invigorating to see
the surprise and delight when
people accidently stumble into a
Melbourne Festival experience.
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What do you look forward to at
Melbourne Festival?