The Due West Festival will return next November following the runaway success of the festival’s first outing.
The inaugural Due West: Immersive Arts Festival was hastily convened in August in the wake of the surprise demise of the 20-year-old Big West Festival.
Maribyrnong council spent $85,000 on the festival, a figure matched by the state government through Creative Victoria.
While the three-week festival was deemed a success, suggestions have been made to secure its future. These include tightening it into a 10-day festival, moving it to November and building the festival around a central hub with a handful of satellite events.
Maribyrnong councillors last week voted to lock in $85,000 in annual funding for the festival for the next three years, on the proviso Creative Victoria also matched or exceeded the amount.
A council officer’s report on the festival noted that the closure of Big West had left a gap in the festival calendar.
“In particular the Festival City program was without a dedicated arts festival.”
Cr Mia McGregor praised the organisers of Due West for bringing together almost 300 artists and attracting 10,000 audience members.
“This was an artist-focused festival, it was localised, low-budget and it took a lot of courage for the council to step in and try something,” she said.
Benjamin Millar
