Darwin Festival rejects $200,000 sponsorship offer

The Festival Board has rejected a sponsorship offer from an arts and environmental coalition on the basis it may adversely affect the Festival's independence.

16 Dec 2022 14:44

Richard Watts

All Arts

Darwin Festival’s outdoor hub in Festival Park. Photo: Helen Orr and Foldback for Darwin Festival.

The Darwin Festival Board has rejected a $200,000 sponsorship offer from a coalition of environmental groups, on the basis that accepting the money may have impacted the Festival’s independence.

When gas and oil company Santos ended its sponsorship arrangement with Darwin Festival in October, a coalition of climate and arts philanthropists approached the Festival with an alternative offer.

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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