Melburnians have been eagerly awaiting their new look Melbourne Festival. Unfortunately, we will have to wait a little longer, with the executive committee today announcing the new-look festival will be postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of Covid-19
The inaugural festival was to be an amalgamation of White Night and Melbourne International Arts Festival and was due to run during August 2020.
The co-artistic directors for the festival, Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek, said in a statement: “As people in the business of gatherings and live experiences, it’s hard to comprehend what this global issue will mean for the way we operate, consume art and socialise. We are worried for the full spectrum of artists, our colleagues and the whole community and hope that some unity and new ideas can be found in mass isolation.”
“It’s heartening to see the ingenuity, resourcefulness, trench humour and generosity already being exhibited by our community and we will be contributing as much as we can in all of these areas as we reshape the festival for 2021.”
More information on Melbourne Festival 2021 will be released later in the year.