Brisbane Festival poaches Bleach* Festival’s founder as new AD

Louise Bezzina will commence at Brisbane Festival in May, following the presentation of her final Bleach* Festival in April 2019.

Louise Bezzina. Photo credit: Peter Thiedeke

Louise Bezzina, the founding Artistic Director and CEO of the Gold Coast’s signature Bleach* Festival, has been announced as David Berthold’s successor as Artistic Director at Brisbane Festival.

After relocating to the Gold Coast from Brisbane in 2011, Bezzina created Bleach* Festival and built it from a pilot project to a major annual event that has reached almost one million people since its inception. More recently she led the organisation through the Commonwealth Games as part of the Creative Lead Team for Festival 2018.

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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