Prestigious Award Celebrates OzAsia Festival's Cultural Contribution

Adelaide Festival Centre's OzAsia Festival was applauded for its outstanding contribution to multiculturalism and social harmony during today's announcement of the 2019 Governor's Multicultural Awards.

OzAsia Festival 2018 is among the winners of this prestigious award, which recognises the festival's dedication to the promotion of cultural diversity in South Australia.

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier AM said OzAsia Festival served an important role in raising awareness of the various groups and individuals who help enrich our society.

"The growing success of OzAsia Festival is a true reflection of Australia's multicultural community and all that it has to offer - especially the wonderful artistic experiences we're able to enjoy from so many unique perspectives."

OzAsia Festival is Australia's leading contemporary arts festival engaging with Asia. It presents a bold and exciting line-up of boundary-pushing contemporary arts each year and is revered by audiences and critics alike.

Held annually over three weeks in spring, OzAsia Festival showcases the best theatre, dance, music, visual arts, literature, film, food and cultural events from across Asia.

In 2018, OzAsia Festival introduced a new annual literature element to its program, a satellite event of the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, which has been described as the 'greatest literary show on earth'. JLF Adelaide is a celebration of ideas, writing, discussion, and debate with writers and thinkers from across Australia and Asia.

Held from October 25 to November 11, the 12th annual OzAsia Festival 2018 boasted 200,000 attendances across a wide range of free events and ticketed shows. It included the Borak Arts Series conference along with the
ever-popular Moon Lantern Parade and Lucky Dumpling Market.

The 2018 program featured five world premieres, 20 Australian premieres and 22 events exclusive to South Australia, with work presented from 817 artists and 20 countries. Rave reviews and numerous sold out performances included Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's iconic acrobatic masterpiece Sutra and legendary Chinese playwright and director Stan Lai's beloved modern classic Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land.

The Moon Lantern Parade attracted more than 40,000 people to Elder Park, where attendees were treated to multicultural performances from community artists before a parade of giant lanterns and a spectacular fireworks finale. Throughout the festival, the vibrant Lucky Dumpling Market outdoor hub offered delicious food inspired by Asian cuisine, bars and free entertainment.

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, OzAsia Festival cannot proceed with ticketed performances and public events this year. However, to ensure an ongoing presence of this popular festival in 2020, new Artistic Director Annette Shun Wah will deliver a series of online discussions and interviews at the end of this year, focussed on the importance of Australia's continued engagement with Asia and the arts.

"It is a privilege to be among this year's award recipients, who are all doing such important work towards cultural harmony in our state," Mr Gautier said.

"We are honoured to receive this award from the Governor of South Australia, His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC, who has been a Patron of OzAsia Festival for several years now."