OzAsia Festival 2018 Attracts 200,000

200,000 people came to Adelaide Festival Centre, the Riverbank and city venues to experience the best contemporary arts from across Asia and beyond, reaffirming OzAsia Festival as Australia's major international arts festival engaging with Asia.

From grooving Korean grandmas, to acrobatic Shaolin Monks and new perspectives on Syria, Australia's largest festival celebrating Asia presented the very best music, dance, theatre and art across 18 days right in the heart of Adelaide.

Running from 25 October to 11 November, Adelaide Festival Centre's 12th annual OzAsia Festival featured five world premieres, 20 Australian premieres and 22 events exclusive to South Australia, with work presented from 817 artists and 20 countries.

The 2018 program included more than 400 activities, with over 250 scheduled performances, 55 talk events, 34 film screenings, eight exhibitions and 66 workshops.

Rave reviews and numerous sold out performances included Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's iconic acrobatic masterpiece Sutra and legendary Chinese playwright and director Stan Lai's beloved modern classic Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land.

Festival favourite Moon Lantern Parade wowed attendees with more than 40,000 converging on Elder Park and the Lucky Dumpling Market to soak up the colour, lights and entertainment of Australia's largest lantern parade.

Celebrating the stories and rich culture of India and the connections between broader Asia and Australia, Jaipur Literature Festival in Adelaide was a huge success, with more than 5,000 people soaking up fascinating, insightful and sometimes provocative panels.

Lucky Dumpling Market was also popular, with families and people of all ages taking advantage of a smorgasbord of food and a jam-packed program of free entertainment.

OzAsia Festival Artistic Director Joseph Mitchell: "The 2018 OzAsia Festival was our most expansive program yet. This has truly become one of the most iconic international arts festivals in Australia and provides audiences with an opportunity to connect with world leading artists and productions. We were also pleased to host 200 arts industry delegates from across Australia and Asia as part of the Borak Arts Series that helped build Australia-Southeast Asia connections. The closing weekend featured the debut of Jaipur Literature Festival in Adelaide. The new literary arm of our annual program was met with great enthusiasm by local audiences."

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier AM: "For more than a decade, OzAsia Festival has been at the forefront of artistic excellence and celebrating cultural diversity in our state. We are particularly excited to have welcomed the Jaipur Literature Festival to the OzAsia Festival program for the first time, strengthening our commitment to celebrating culture from all over the Asia Pacific and its wider international connections. I congratulate and thank all who made OzAsia Festival a success again this year: state, federal, and local governments, sponsors and partners, artists, community groups, volunteers, staff and audiences."

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