COVID-19 and Arts Festivals: Whither Transformation?

The global health pandemic, COVID-19, has accelerated changes in a disrupted world, with arts festivals adjusting in response to it. This paper is salient as it examines empirically COVID-19 and arts festivals as they transform to ensure survival. Using qualitative methods (i.e., interviews, observations, and content analysis) to assess arts festivals in South Australia, we identify three key shifts in arts festivals that are highlighted as critical during turbulent times. Our findings identified the first shift—localism—where surviving arts festivals moved from national and international foci to localism (i.e., local tourism that may span one state or several states and engagement of local artists). The second shift—from competition to collaboration—responds to the changing needs of multiple stakeholders in the arts festival ecology affected by COVID-19 including different government bodies, artists, and other festivals. The third shift—digital transformation—sees arts festivals respond to the global pandemic through online live performances, streaming international events, with innovative gatherings of groups of people. We identify the necessity that local artists find opportunities for collaboration in working for arts festivals that is a shining light in a disrupted world focusing on leveraging technology for audience experiences and artist engagement.