Major Festivals Initiative
The Major Festivals Initiative supports the commissioning, development and showcasing of new Australian performing arts productions for Australia’s major international arts festivals.
Creative Australia manages this initiative on behalf of the Australian Government. The Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals selects projects for support, and manages the development of the selected works and their presentation by member festivals.
Confederation members are:
- Adelaide Festival
- Brisbane Festival
- Darwin Festival
- Melbourne Festival
- Perth Festival
- Sydney Festival
- Ten Days on the Island.
Associate members are:
- New Zealand International Arts Festival
- Auckland Festival.
Only member festivals of the Confederation (not associate members) are eligible to receive MFI funds.
These festivals present the highest quality and most exciting and innovative contemporary arts from around the world. More importantly, they can nurture and encourage the presentation of exciting Australian arts and artists. Working together, the Confederation provides a curatorial hothouse to nurture exceptional new artistic works.
The initiative also supports Commissioning Sites: a forum to profile new work-in-progress to member festivals and other potential presenters and partners.