Axe falls on festival after twenty years
The curtains are being drawn on another major arts festival, one event expert calling the lack of consultation with the city’s Asian community “disrespectful”.
The OzAsia festival later this year will be its last after running for two decades in Adelaide, the Festival Centre has announced.
It comes a week after Laneway announced it would not return to Adelaide, and after the Adelaide Festival Centre quietly killed off Adelaide Guitar Festival in December after nearly two decades.
Slingsby Theatre Company has also closed after almost 20 years, and other major music festivals, Harvest Rock, Vintage Vibes and Groovin’ the Moo have departed our festival state as the industry faces a reckoning.
Adelaide University senior lecturer in festival and event management Boram Lee said she was about to begin teaching a unit about community festivals this week when she discovered this year’s OzAsia festival – which will run from October 9 to November 1 – would be the last.
“That was really shocking; I couldn’t understand why because it’s such a celebratory moment in Adelaide…a lot of my students come from Southeast Asia, Asia or around Europe internationally; they really love OzAsia Festival because it gives them a sense of belonging in this country,” Lee said.
Lee said to axe the festival “without asking the public” was “a very disrespectful decision”.
“Most local artists, they’re frustrated; they feel hopeless because it has provided them so many opportunities and they were looking forward to having the festival coming,” she said.
“Audiences are very angry; they have that sense of ownership of this festival because 20 years, that’s such a long period.”
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She said she remembers her first OzAsia festival, “so well, I even cried”.
“I didn’t know anyone apart from one or two colleagues at university…I saw [Pakistani-Australian Sufi singer] Farhan Shah and when he was singing I felt like it doesn’t matter which language you speak, we all understand, and we are all welcome here.”
Lee – who has previously worked with Korean theatre companies to bring their work to Edinburgh Festival – said there were not enough opportunities for Asian-Australian performers outside of OzAsia.
“It’s gradually changing; Adelaide Fringe is still not very international, and Adelaide Festival is very much European-focused with strong roots with the UK. Having a dedicated Asian festival really complements what Adelaide doesn’t offer,” she said.
“Unfortunately, the Asian Australian arts is still very fragile and you need to give them care…why dismantle a 20-year-old, getting stronger festival in order to start something from scratch.”
Adelaide Festival Centre CEO Kate Gould said the decision to end OzAsia after 20 years was strategic after hearing from stakeholders that “having a dedicated OzAsia Festival that’s about Asian arts doesn’t really represent the fact that Asian voices also want to see a year-round presence at the centre”.
“That’s where we’re focussed is to make sure that’s occurring on a year-round basis, rather than concentrated so it doesn’t just happen one time of the year,” Gould said.
Gould said this year’s OzAsia festival would also be free, including its headlining concert from Brisbane-based band Regurgitator.
“It is about a celebration of 20 years; nothing is forever and so we wanted to really give this festival back to the community completely,” Gould said.
She added that some “exciting artists” who are not always available in the tight festival period of OzAsia could come to Adelaide at other times of the year.
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“We’ve been working on a whole range of projects, which are going to be coming, and we’ll be announcing a lot of new projects in the new year and I think people will see the kinds of things we’ve been working on behind the scenes in due course,” she said.
“We are committed to festivals, but in terms of the need to be reactive to what audiences are seeking and in regards to getting the big-name artists to Adelaide, we are changing the way we’re approaching the programming of those artists.”
The Lucky Dumpling Festival – hosted in collaboration with the team behind Gluttony – will also continue, and this year will include the beloved moon lanterns.
The festival also includes a Weekend of Words, curated by award-winning comedian Sami Shah and featuring writers like Benjamin Law and Antoinette Lattouf. It follows the cancellation of Adelaide Writers’ Week earlier this year, which saw authors withdraw in droves after a Palestinian-Australian author was removed from the program.
OzAsia festival started in 2006 to showcase Asian and Asian Australian art, literature and music, spearheaded by former Adelaide Festival Centre CEO Douglas Gautier.
A state government spokesperson said the arts minister was aware of the decision, and “the State Government will work with the Festival Centre on how our annual funding for OzAsia will be utilised in future years”.
“The State Government is proud to support a significant program of annual festivals in Adelaide and across South Australia,” the spokesperson said.
“As part of our more than $240 million spend in supporting the Arts, this Government has invested $35 million for the recent Adelaide Festival Centre upgrade, and $20 million over the next four years to support the Fringe Festival, as well as providing support for WOMADelaide, the Adelaide Festival, the Adelaide Film Festival, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the Dream Big Children’s Festival, the SALA Festival, the Feast Festival, the History Festival and many others.”
Today, Premier Peter Malinauskas announced the dates for next year’s AFL Gather Round, saying the 2026 event brought in a record $115 million to the state’s economy.
Next year’s Gather Round would take place from April 8 to April 11 in the school holidays, with a players’ parade.
Malinauskas said it was an “astonishing record economic contribution of $115 million – meaning the event has now delivered more than $400 million to our economy in just four years”.
Adelaide Fringe delivered about $238.3 million to state coffers in 2026, while Illuminate drew in $74.7 million to the state’s economy in 2025.
State government figures showed Bp’s Adelaide Grand Final delivered $100 million to the state economy in November, and the 2026 Tour Down Under delivered $86.9 million.
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