National Theatre of Scotland's war drama Black Watch. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod
It's summer in this part of the world but not everyone's at the beach or watching cricket. The annual, month-long Sydney Festival, the city's premier cultural event, has just concluded and has been a considerable success with nearly a million people attending. Even more impressive, about 60 per cent of those going to the free outdoor events or ticketed performances are said to have been first-timers.
Historically, Sydneysiders are not noted for being culture vultures, so why was the event so popular? Much of the credit has to go to the festival's artistic director Fergus Linehan, imported from Dublin, who put together a populist, energetic and affordable programme that appealed to a broad range of age groups. Festival highlights included a burlesque circus, Aboriginal theatre, appearances by Björk and former Beach Boy Brian Wilson, James Thiérrée's innovative Au Revoir Parapluie and the National Theatre of Scotland's war drama Black Watch.
The giant street party on the opening day set the scene and proved popular with families who came in droves to see acrobats, jugglers, singers and DJs and to witness three real weddings where the couples were led down a red carpet by a conga line of Chinese dragon dancers. There were other quirky events such as free haircuts done by 10-year-old children and short, contemporary dance works at the Opera House with tickets costing only $25. Summer rainstorms washed out a concert by the Sydney Symphony, which was watched by only a few brave, sodden souls instead of an expected audience of 80,000, but no-one complained too much.
One criticism would be that, while the festival had plenty of raw energy, it could have been supplemented with a bit more highbrow stuff. The Sydney Morning Herald said the event wasn't "especially coherent or intellectually challenging" and also pointed out that it lacked a central hub. This is partly due to the spread-out nature of the city, but it's a fair point that should be addressed. Linehan, who will present his fourth and final festival next year, has obviously taken all this on board, but he also points out that Sydneysiders aren't precious about culture. He says they adopt a "like it or not" approach to the arts and prefer an eclectic mix of performances that mirrors what they are - mostly young, multicultural and still learning about things.
Linehan's successor will be announced in the next few months and will take the festival, now in its 30th year, in his or her own direction. In the meantime, attracting a million people is no mean feat and shows that the Sydney Festival, while still a work and an idea in progress, is heading in the right direction.
