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

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 is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts