Feast Festival is a LGBTI Festival held annually in the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. The event is one of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's four major queer festivals, alongside Perth's Pride Festival, Melbourne's

Midsumma Midsumma Festival is an annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ arts and cultures, held annually for 22 days across January and February in Melbourne, Australia. The festival began as a one-week celebration of gay pride in 1989. The festival has expand ...

and the

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest such festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the ...

. Feast was founded in a by group of arts and community cultural workers. Margie Fischer, Damien Carey, Helen Bock and Luke Cutler worked together to create a community arts festival for the lesbian and gay community in Adelaide. In 1999, cabaret theatre performer

Paul Capsis Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

performed at the festival's opening concert. In November 2009, the lineup of singer/songwriters for ''Sing Out'' at the festival included Emily Davis, Vicki Bennett, and Ziggie Zertophf. In 2016,

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...

was the headline act for the opening night street party. In 2011 approximately 48,000 people attended Feast events, with another 40,000 tuning into the live radio broadcast from Picnic in the Park with Joy 94.9.

Financial difficulties

Feast Festival has faced increased financial difficulties in recent years. In 2014, its accumulated deficit more than doubled, from $29,521 in 2013 to $79,175 in 2014. In May 2015, Feast Festival made its Artistic Director, Catherine Fitzgerald, redundant in what was described as part of "a recent review of operational requirements in response to financial constraints". The decision, and subsequent festival, received criticism from the LGBTIQ community, including from the festival co-founder Helen Bock. This left the festival without artistic leadership, to be led by the General Manager, Cassandra Liebeknecht and Chair of the Board, Joshua Rayner. In September 2016, General Manager, Cassandra Liebeknecht was suspended on full pay pending an investigation while the board investigated allegations of unprofessional conduct, and was criticized for incompetence and breaking relationships with arts and LGBTIQ community. She later resigned before the investigation was completed leaving the Festival in a very precarious financial situation. In 2016 the organisation was "bailed out" by

Arts South Australia Arts South Australia (previously Arts SA) was responsible for managing the South Australian Government's funding for the arts and cultural heritage from about 1996 until late 2018, when it was progressively dismantled, a process complete by early ...

Executive Director Peter Louca following the "significant unreported losses". The Festival aims to keep a balance between government funding, business sponsorship, earned income, individual giving and fundraising in supporting its revenue needs for each Festival and currently receives funding support from government as follows: * South Australian Government through Arts SA and the SA Tourism Commission. * Local Government through the Adelaide City Council. A range of sponsors and partners also contribute on an annual basis. Feast are founder members of the newly formed Festivals Adelaide. The Feast Festival is sponsored by, amongst others, the

Adelaide City Council The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of Sout ...

South Australian Tourism Commission The South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC), also known as the SA Tourism Commission, is an organisation set up by the Government of South Australia to promote tourism in South Australia. The legislation to establish the SATC was introduce ...

Coopers Brewery Coopers Brewery Limited, the largest Australian-owned brewery, is based in the Adelaide suburb of Regency Park. Coopers is known for making a variety of beers, the most famous of which are its Pale Ale and Sparkling Ale. In the twelve month ...

, Arts SA, Blaze Magazine, and

AGL Energy AGL Energy Ltd () is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. AGL is Australia's largest electricity generator, and the nation's largest carbo ...

References

External links

Feast Festival
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Financial difficulties

See also

References

External links