Victoria’s oldest festival under a cloud as administrators appointed

Victoria’s oldest running arts festival, the Castlemaine Festival, has gone into voluntary administration with organisers blaming losses incurred at last year’s event.

Staged in autumn, the biennial festival is a rich part of the town’s culture according to many locals, including chair of the festival board Lucy Mayes, but voluntary administration was the only responsible decision open to the board once the results of the most recent festival were revealed.

“We believe with cautious hope that this will be a move that will be able to save the festival,” she said.

A statement from the board said: “We understand that this will be upsetting for the many people who have supported, enjoyed and championed our festival over many years, as it is for the board and staff.”

It’s not the first time the festival has faced financial hardship. In 1996, this masthead reported administrators had been appointed to help resolve issues including “ballooning debt and poor attendances”.

The Age reported on the festival’s woes in 1996.

The 17-day event last year had 38,000 attendees and was affected by bad weather over both weekends. Established in 1976, the event is funded by the Victorian government through Creative Victoria, Mount Alexander Shire and various patrons and donors, as well as relying on box office for income. It generates an estimated $3 -3.5 million in economic benefits for the town.

Mayes says the board “had very healthy reserves built up over a period of time both with the [most recent] artistic director and the previous director before him,” she says. “We were absolutely on a trajectory that was commensurate with our success historically, and our popularity.”

Glyn Roberts, festival director from 2017 to 2023, resigned in March last year after three festivals.

While trouble surrounding music festivals has dominated headlines in the past year, some locals have pointed to more specific issues contributing to the losses incurred at the most recent Castlemaine festivals.

Former Castlemaine Festival board member Mark Anstey, who served from 2010 to 2018, says the community has been shocked by the news. While the recent collapse is a surprise, he says, the last couple of festivals have been underwhelming.

“There’s been less community involvement, there’s been no schools programs and fewer big, free, celebratory events. It just felt like it was a step backwards, it was getting more exclusive,” he says.

Anstey runs the arts precinct Lot19, home to studios for 22 local artists, as well as the annual event Castlemaine Idyll – a riff on Australian Idol in which 30-odd locals sing karaoke before a crowd of about 1000, with guest celebrity judges awarding a winner.

He argued that disbanding forums that facilitated community involvement – such as Castlemaine Created, which presented and produced works by local artists and companies, the schools program and the international program which invited overseas artists to town– have been detrimental to the event.

“While the state festival has been floundering, the fringe festival has been barrelling forward,” he says.

Former program manager at Main FM, Castlemaine’s community radio station, Suzane Donisthorpe, agreed, describing the last two festivals as dull. She wants a move away from staging most events at one large venue – in 2023, it was the Big Top, which was flooded out – and a shift back to more diverse locations, such as the opera held in a mine near Maldon or the theatre show staged in the treetops of Vaughn.

Future plans include the development of the 1860s Goods Shed site, which the festival runs year-round as a creative hub, hosting artist residencies, educational opportunities and professional development for artists.

$6 million in state government and private funding has been earmarked to develop the Goods Shed into a fully fledged arts venue.

This would anchor the festival in financial viability and stability, and position Castlemaine as a centre of arts excellence in the region, Mayes said.

A spokesperson for Creative Victoria said:“This is a challenging time for the festival board and team as they work through complex issues. We will continue to work with the festival board and the administrators as they seek to better understand the festival’s position and options for the future, including the next steps for the Castlemaine Goods Shed project.”

Administrators Deloitte Financial Advisory have taken over operational control of the festival and will work closely with stakeholders “to assess the options available to restructure the operations, preserve the legacy of the festival and determine a path forward”.

Their report is expected mid-May.

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