Overview
The directorate, through Events ACT, seeks to manage, support and attract events that are aligned to Canberra’s brand, that deliver strong economic outcomes and that make a valuable contribution to city vibrancy, social cohesion and community pride.
The directorate plans, promotes and delivers a suite of community and tourism events for the local community and visitors to the city annually. The directorate also provides leadership on event related matters to the ACT Government and the event sector, while further contributing to the development of the Canberra events calendar through the administration of the annual ACT Event Fund grant program.
Highlights
In 2018-19 the directorate continued to deliver a broad range of economic, social and community outcomes for the ACT through event delivery, event development and event marketing:
Deliver key community events
- Canberra Nara Candle Festival – The Canberra Nara Candle Festival attracted around 17,050 people to Canberra Nara Peace Park on Saturday 27 October 2018, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the sister city relationship with the Mayor of Nara City attending.
- New Year’s Eve – New Year’s Eve celebrations in Canberra included two fireworks displays over City Hill at 9pm and midnight. The event concentrated on Civic Square generated a combined attendance of 40,750 attendees across the evening.
- Australia Day – Australia Day celebrations, including the Fireworks Spectacular, attracted 33,062 people to the shores of Lake Burley Griffin on Saturday 26 January 2019.
- Canberra Day – Canberra Day celebrations on Monday 11 March 2019 were attended by 3,029 people at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park.
Economic activity generated as a result of staging Floriade (target of $40 million)
In 2018, Floriade generated a total attendance of 480,540 over 30 days (includes multiple visits), an increase of 46,126 (or 10.6%) on the previous year’s attendance figure (434,414).
NightFest 2018 attracted 21,449 visitors attended over five nights, down on 2017 (29,753) by 27.9%.
Interstate and/or overseas visitors to Canberra made up 231,135 (or 48.1%) of all attendees, with 94,753 of these motivated to come to Canberra specifically to attend Floriade and NightFest 2018.
In 2018, Floriade generated a $38.6 million economic impact for the ACT, an increase of $1.2 million on 2017.
Economic activity generated as a result of staging the Enlighten Festival (target of $3 million)
In 2019, the Enlighten Festival generated a total attendance of 328,087 across the event’s 17 days (includes multiple visits), an increase of 8,465 (or 2.6%) on the previous year’s attendance figure (319,622).
Interstate and/or overseas visitors to Canberra made up 36,601 (or 11.2%) of all Enlighten Festival attendees, with 10,685 of these motivated to come to Canberra specifically to attend the Enlighten Festival.
In 2018, the Enlighten Festival generated a $5.46 million economic impact for the ACT, an increase of $600,000 on 2018, exceeding the 2018-19 accountability indicator target of $3 million by 82%.
Satisfaction with the management of Events grants in the ACT (target of 80%)
A satisfaction survey was completed to measure the standard of service and assistance to event organisers through the delivery of the grants management process for the ACT Event Fund. In 2018-19, a satisfaction figure of 87% was achieved, which was higher than the 2018-19 accountability indicator target of 80%.
The directorate met three out of four 2018-19 accountability indicators against this output.
The accountability indicator not met was:
- Economic activity generated as a result of staging Floriade – the target was $40 million and the actual result was $38.6 million. This was due to Floriade in 2018 being affected by inclement weather, reducing attendance levels during NightFest.
Future Direction
In 2019-20 the directorate will:
- continue to deliver and develop a high-quality suite of tourism and community events that provide strong economic, social and cultural benefits for the ACT, including the ongoing development and enhancement of Floriade and the Enlighten Festival as key anchor events on Canberra’s annual calendar;
- deliver Floriade in the Suburbs – a pop-up Floriade activation in town centres aimed at creating vibrancy in town centres and improving access to Floriade;
- develop a new festival to be delivered in winter 2020, focusing on promoting Canberra’s strengths in innovation, design, culture, coding and gaming, and delivering the new festival as the first government owned and managed major event free of single-use plastics;
- deliver Windows to the World in October 2019 and a new Canberra Arts Biennial in winter 2020; and
- continue to support the ACT’s events and festivals sector through delivery of the ACT Event Fund and through the facilitation of development workshops that support capacity building and upskilling opportunities for local event organisers and key community groups.
Further information can be obtained from
Kareena Arthy
Deputy Director-General
Economic Development
+ 61 2 6207 5564
Kareena.Arthy@act.gov.au
Jo Verden
Executive Branch Manager
Events ACT
+ 61 2 6205 0554
Jo.Verden@act.gov.au