How to pitch your work to a festival director

Three Australian festival directors offer tips on pitching your art for inclusion in their events.
Pitch. Image is a silhouetted figure stands against a photo of the Milky Way in all its cosmic splendour.

For many artists, having one’s work programmed at a major festival – such as RISING, Adelaide Festival or Dark Mofo – can be an invaluable calling card when it comes to gaining international attention and developing a higher profile.

But given the many gatekeepers who stand between artist and artistic director, how does one get on the radar of a festival director in the first place?

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's 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 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts