Exit interview: Travis Tiddy, The Unconformity

After 15 years and seven festivals grown from the bedrock of Tasmania's West Coast, Tiddy reflects on growth, change and challenges during his time as Artistic Director and CEO.
A dark-haired and bearded man in his 40s smiles at the camera. He wears a dark blue striped shirt and stands against a black background.

In 2009, Travis Tiddy helped establish the biennial Queenstown Heritage and Arts Festival, now known as Tasmania’s renowned West Coast arts festival, The Unconformity. He recently finished up as the festival’s Artistic Director and CEO, having decided earlier this year that it was the right time to move on.

‘One of the things that came back from that survey was this public observation that the town didn’t have a festival, and so because we were the people who had asked that question, when we saw the response we thought, “Well, let’s give it a crack.” Thus, the story of The Unconformity is one of this expanding intent and evolving scope over time,’ Tiddy explains.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's former National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in early 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association in 2021, and a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Photo: Fiona Hamilton. Follow Richard on Bluesky @richardthewatts.bsky.social and Instagram @richard.l.watts