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History
 

Our Association was built & continues to be managed by a team of volunteers, who have an appreciation of culture & the arts, many who are artists themselves. We create Performing Arts Festivals annually & celebrate artists’ achievements by sharing their performances with the broader community. Down South Festival Inc. is a not-for-profit association based in Albany, Western Australia & became an incorporated association in 2002.

We conducted our first event over the Australia Day long weekend in January 2003.
Thanks to overwhelming local business & community support, our first festival was a memorable event.

Our second event was in November 2003 providing the Down South Festival Entertainment Marquee at the Albany Agricultural Show. This event along with many other fund raising activities, contributed to the financial recovery from our first event.

Our third event was over the weekend of March 20 & 21 in 2004.
Again, this festival was made possible by strong local business & community support, along with major sponsors.

Our fourth event in November 2004 was again providing the Down South Festival Entertainment Marquee at the Albany Agricultural Show, establishing a valuable showcase for performing artists.

 In November 2005 our fifth event was Down South Festival Performing Arts at the Albany Agricultural Show.

Our independent festival presence became noticeable as we conducted part of our festival outside of the Show event.

 For our sixth event, in 2006 we are looking forward to increasing festival activities, during a week of performances, workshops & celebrations as well as our annual presence with the Albany Show.

November 2007, our seventh event, saw the introduction of a new and popular segment, “Poets Corner”. Other new acts along with regular performers were well supported. The marquee decoration team provided a fresh and exciting display of original artwork, themed “Art from the heart”. Extending our venue utilizing shade sails, proved popular with patrons choosing to enjoy festival performances, relaxing & dining outdoors in the bustling social atmosphere.

The rich diversity of creative artists from our region is reflected in our program, as we encourage aspiring & emerging artists to perform alongside those who are well rehearsed & recognised. 

We regularly engage over 300 artists in a diversity of age, culture, genre, ability & expertise, enabling them all to perform with professional facilities. Visiting artists are engaged in response to local interest, helping to enrich our community with knowledge, skills, ideas & cultural experiences. We welcome people with disabilities as volunteers, artists & patrons and support other community events by sharing our resources.