YOUR FESTIVAL
Our goal is to provide our community and our visitors with the opportunity to experience the excellent, the diverse, and the extraordinary by presenting the biennial Dunedin Arts Festival in April 2027. The Festival includes ticketed shows, free events, workshops, exhibitions, and a robust schools' programme.
The Festival is not only for the Southern community but is also responsible for visitors into the region staying in local accommodation, dining at local establishments, bringing significant income into the city.
Vision
To provide a diverse programme of accessible activities and events that will cater for locals and visitors.
To provide events that will inspire, entertain, and challenge all sectors of our community.
To provide free and low-ticket price events that will appeal to all ages and all sectors of the community.
To provide opportunities for artists, performers, and the local arts industry and to increase profile and gain financial benefits.
To present audiences with a programme of high-quality arts events that includes the best of National and International music, theatre, and dance.
To promote Dunedin as an exciting, colourful, and vibrant cultural destination and reinforce Dunedin’s profile as a centre of performing and visual arts.
To increase visitor numbers at an off-peak time of year and encourage a longer stay.
To increase awareness of community and artistic facilities, such as galleries, theatres, artists’ workshops, and public spaces.
To develop links between arts and industry.
To provide community celebrations and a sense of pride in the place we live.
PURPOSE
On a biennial basis, the festival brings excellent, diverse, and engaging arts experiences to the Ōtepoti Dunedin community, entertaining and challenging our audiences while celebrating our heritage and environment.
Wellbeing
This involves connecting our community through the process of participation in the events, through volunteering for the Festival and by programming street and community events. Our programming should not only entertain but should nourish people’s hearts and minds.
Relationships and Inclusion
The arts reflect society back upon itself, and the Festival needs to reflect all of Ōtepoti Dunedin. Everybody needs to see that the Festival is for them and we want the region to take ownership of the event. It’s their Festival. We need to ensure we are consistently and constantly building our younger audiences with a focus on relevant events and a robust schools programme.
Sustainability
We need to ensure we maintain a diverse funding base – across box-office, sponsorship, funding, and benefactors, and we are working to minimise our carbon footprint and waste output.
