By Margaret Maccoll
A chance meeting between two couples forged a relationship which helped turn a floundering festival into a flourishing success.
Johanne and Ian Wright met playwright David Williamson and his actor wife Kristin when they happened to book on the same tour in Myanmar in 2013, and came back convinced they should volunteer for the Noosa Long Weekend Festival.
Johanne was winding up a boutique management and strategy consultancy after having worked in 21 countries across the Asia Pacific region with organisations including the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs Department and its aid program AusAID.
Ian was a veterinarian with the CSIRO and “heavily involved in project management”.
It was a small tour group of about a dozen people, and Johanne mentioned to David and Kristin how she was looking forward to the upcoming festival.
“We didn’t know them before,” Johanne said.
But after a few more discussions and few red wines David wanted both Johanne and Ian to join the festival committee.
Ian declined but was talked into taking charge of co-ordinating the volunteers.
On their return to Noosa, David invited Johanne to a committee meeting in late 2013.
The festival, now called Noosa Alive and of which David is patron, was struggling to survive. They’d just lost a major sponsor, missed out on a government grant and were carrying a debt.
“I said ‘you can’t not have that festival – it’s so important to Noosa,’ and that’s how I got elected president,” she said.
“We all worked really hard to get local businesses and groups involved. The show went on and every year on, we have made a small surplus that we ploughed into gearing it up.
“Last year, we brought in a 26 per cent increase in interstate visitors to the festival.
“This year we made a commitment to increase the number of activities on offer.
“We have about 130 separate events and 250 artists from Australia and one from New Zealand.”
Johanne said each year the acts and events are chosen in two separate ways.
“People come to us. They may be a touring company like Opera Australia that is touring Marriage of Figaro,” she said.
“A lot of artists are falling over each other to come. They get a beachfront apartment and they love coming to Noosa.
“Lior told us the other day it was six degrees in Melbourne and he can’t wait to come swimming in Noosa.
“And we have all these partnerships with local arts groups – Noosa Arts Theatre, Noosa Chorale, Noosa Film Society, Slow Food Noosa and they are as much a part of the festival.”
While the artists are keen to spend some part of winter in Noosa, it is the attraction of patron David Williamson with his wide-reaching connections and the friendly reputation of the festival that draws artists.
“Everyone coming here feels welcome,” Johanne said. “The artists are well looked after.”
The other way artists end up at the festival is through careful selection, making sure it is a fresh and ever changing program for guests.
“We have a programming committee with experts in different genres,” Johanne said.
“The artistic director (Ian Mackellar) uses them as an advisory committee to source great performers and acts. They do all the research.”
This year for the first time the festival has moved into the digital age with events to be posted on You Tube.
In addition one event will be streamed live on the internet.
“This will give us a far greater audience than we could ever have with people coming to visit and for commercial partners it provides them with a product streamed to a live audience,” she said.
The festival is dependent on sponsors, philanthropic donations and volunteers to stay alive, and this year obtained a government grant.
“Our box office never brings in more than 50 per cent of the money you need to spend,” she said.
“The lovely thing this year we’ve had people coming to us wanting to be sponsors.”
The festival is a registered charity. Almost all staff including Johanne and Ian, the committee, grant application writers, program distributors and event staff including ticket takers, ushers and survey takers are volunteers.
Being in charge of a laboratory at CSIRO, Ian had plenty of scheduling experience setting timelines for research projects which he adapted to organise volunteers for events at different times.
“The volunteers are very important. They’re the backbone of the festival,” he said.
“We have lots of long term loyal volunteers. Some of them have been there for 10 years.
“People volunteer because they have a passion for some aspect of the festival or they believe in supporting the arts.
“They would see shows they would not otherwise see and it’s the camaraderie they enjoy.
“We always say to have a fun time and they generally do.”
Ian said the volunteer model used was unique to the festival. Unlike events where paid staff instruct volunteers, at Noosa Alive both team leaders and volunteers are volunteers so everyone is on an equal footing.
While the festival brings economic benefits of about $2.9million to the local community, it is as much as part of the community as a tourist potential.
To meet community appeal there is a wide range of events organised at multiple venues across the region, and tickets priced to be accessible to all.
Tickets for the opera for instance range from $15 to $189.
The festival will this year kick off on Friday 21 July, with events from Cooroy to Noosa Heads.
On Saturday 22 July, there will be a free event from 3pm at Noosa Lions Park beside the Noosa River as Noosa truly comes alive when Radio Hot 91.1 presents Fire in the Sky.
The festival will wrap up with a closing event on Noosa Main Beach on Sunday 30 July with song, dance and food at the Rococo Beach Club Marquee.
For more information, visit www.nooaalive.com.au
