Ex-Festival head named UK arts minister
Adelaide Festival’s former artistic director has been elevated to the top of the British arts pyramid, two years after abruptly leaving the festival.
The United Kingdom’s Labour government last week announced a suite of ministerial appointments under newly minted Prime Minister Andy Burnham, among them former Adelaide Festival Artistic Director Ruth Mackenzie.
She will take up the role of UK Arts Minister, gaining a Peerage in order to serve as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the British House of Lords. It’s the latest high-profile appointment for Mackenzie since leaving Adelaide, with Mackenzie also serving as director of arts at the British Council.
An under-secretary of state in the UK is a junior ministerial position, with its holder responsible for assisting the senior minister in charge of a department.
Mackenzie was named as successor to long-running Adelaide Festival heads Neil Armfield and Rachel Healy in March 2022, and was expected to program the 2025 and 2026 festivals. However, in August 2024, the state government announced Mackenzie would leave the festival for a newly-created role in the Department of Premier and Cabinet as program director, arts, culture and creative industries policy.
Following the announcement, which came just months before the festival typically announces the following year’s program, former festival director Brett Sheehy was tapped to finalise the 2025 program amid discussion of budget difficulties the previous year.
The 2024 festival reported a “record attendance” of 555,505 – a figure that includes several major free events – but also recorded a box office drop-off of more than $1 million, from $5.4 million in 2023 to $4.3 million in 2024. At an Estimates Committee session in June 2024, then-Arts Minister Andrea Michaels said the Festival had to make “significant savings” in the following year.
Festival CEO Kath Mainlaind, who was appointed shortly after Mackenzie, also announced her departure in March 2025, as Sheehy reported “a very healthy six-figure surplus” following the 2025 festival.
Several recent festival projects – from Simon Stone’s South Korean adaptation of The Cherry Orchard to Country Arts SA’s Kumarangk exhibition – appeared as part of the 2026 festival under current artistic director Matthew Lutton.
Following the announcement, former Adelaide Writers’ Week director Louise Adler was among those who paid tribute to Mackenzie.
Stay informed, daily
“Wonderful recognition of an arts heroine to this important role in the Burnham government,” Adler posted on Instagram. “With a PM who read English at university and an Arts Minister who has an international track record as an inspirational artistic director, the future looks bright for the arts community.”
Prior to her arrival in Adelaide, Mackenzie served as director of the London 2012 Festival (the cultural program for the 2012 London Olympics), general director of the Manchester International Festival and Scottish Opera, and artistic director of the Holland Festival and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
A government spokesperson welcomed Mackenzie’s appointment, saying “the depth and breadth of her international experience left its mark on the state’s 10-year cultural policy A Place to Create and her passion and energy will no doubt continue into her new role”.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
