From the Chief Executive
Following on from the Adelaide Festival Centre’s 50th Anniversary year, 2023-24 has proven to be another successful year, with over a million attendances, high levels of audience satisfaction and venue utilisation rates and a positive financial result.
The 50th Anniversary of Adelaide Festival Centre celebrations continued in the 2023-24 year, including the Don Dunstan Lectures, a thought-provoking talk series, discussing the influence of the arts on society– presented by Adelaide Festival Centre in partnership with Don Dunstan Foundation, Adelaide University and Flinders University. We also launched the arts leadership program which drew participants from across Australia and Asia, which once more underlined the AFC’s reputation as the “go to” Australian Cultural organisation for Asian engagement. This was paralleled by our significant and ongoing Asian intern program.
The Adelaide Festival Centre’s unique, home-grown festivals each delivered outstanding results for audiences and artists alike. I’d like to congratulate the art form specialists and cultural leaders who brought their expertise to our festivals, including Slava Grigoryan with the Adelaide Guitar Festival, Annette Shun Wah with OzAsia Festival, Celia Coulthard for first nations programming and new to the helm, Virginia Gay with the Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Bravo to you and your teams.
It has been a privilege to work with the management and staff who again delivered a very productive year of events and activities. The production and technical team alongside the customer experience and marketing teams should be commended for their extraordinary efforts turning around a large volume of activity this year. I am delighted to be able to work with such a creative organisation, which serves its community so well. The magnificent result from our Foundation is very pleasing, donors have wholeheartedly embraced our program led approach.
My thanks also to the dedicated volunteers who bring a commitment and joy to the many roles they undertake.
My thanks to the outgoing Chair, the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC who retired from the Trust in February. I welcome our new Chair, the Honourable Karlene Maywald, and thank her and all trustees for their time and support.
Thanks also to our Arts Minister, the Honourable Andrea Michaels MP and to the Government of South Australia for their support.
Douglas Gautier AM
Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director
Adelaide Festival Centre Trust