The Rural City of Wangaratta is to play a leading role in the re-vitalisation of the internationally renowned Wangaratta Festival of Jazz.
As part of the makeover, the existing festival board has agreed to resign to allow for the appointment of a new council-appointed board.
The agreement came after the festival had struggled financially for the last two years following the loss of its major sponsor, TAC, plus been hit by a drop in projected ticket sales income as a result of weather extremes.
The new council-appointed board will operate as a short term measure, with the next move being the development of a skills-matrix and a call for community members to fill positions on a permanent board.
The festival has been run by a voluntary local committee for all of its 21 years, and according to rural city chief executive officer, Doug Sharp, has become “in many ways a victim of its own success”.
“As the festival has continued to grow, the demands in administration, finance and event management have climbed with it. The existing committee has done an exceptional job, but there was common agreement that the time had now come to move to the next stage” Mr Sharp said.
He said the council was very grateful for the outstanding job that committee members over the years, and in particular long time chairperson Patti Bulluss, had done in getting the festival to its current status.
“This community owes them a huge debt, as the festival has brought many rewards in terms of branding, recognition and confidence, as well as a massive financial injection, to our city,” he said.
Mr Sharp said that the council would be meeting all outstanding creditors and would also provide significant cash injection to enable the new committee to start “with a clean slate”.
Chairman of the outgoing committee, Ms Bulluss, said it and been a unanimous agreement of her board that the time had come to take the next step.
“The loss of major sponsorship hit us hard, and the committee had done an outstanding job in keeping the festival to the established standards over the last two years. “We all look forward to seeing it continue to grow and develop even further.
Chairman of the newly appointed board is Paul Carrick, who comes with a strong commercial business background.
Mr Carrick, who is also the chair of the North East Regional Tourism Board, said that the number one priority of the board was to ensure the success of the 2011 festival, and then to provide a sound business footing for the ongoing future of the big event.
“It is a magnificent event and we as a board have every confidence in its future. It will continue to grow and maintain its very strong presence as the number one jazz festival in Australia,” he said.
WANGARATTA JAZZ FESTIVAL 2011 RUNS FROM 28-31 OCTOBER.
