Rebranded Tasmanian International Arts Festival to be staged across the Island State

Tasmania's long-running 10 Days on the Island Festival will this year be presented under a new name, the Tasmanian International Arts Festival.

Australia’s only state-wide festival reaches audiences in every corner of Tasmania, impacting the lives of over one million people over the seven festivals held to date.

Running from 20th to 29th March, the biennial event, which began in 2001, was developed to bring together performances from global islands – with past programs havinge included artists from Reunion Island, Manhattan and Taiwan.

The new name aims to make it easier for visitors and artists to know what the Festival is about.

Artistic Director David Malacari explains that the old name was difficult on a world stage and the new one was more descriptive, stating "in the modern world (the old name didn’t) say where we are or what we do and when we're talking on an international stage they seem to be pretty important things to be able to get out with a minimum amount of talk.

"But when you say Tasmanian International Arts Festival they immediately have an understanding of what it is you do and where you are.

"I think that will help us contribute to a greater extent to Brand Tasmania, to Tasmania's arts and cultural reputation, which is significant ... and that'll help visitors and locals alike know exactly what it is they're coming to and what they're likely to see."

While a report from KPMG showed that the 2013 10 Days on the Island Festival injected $2.5 million into the economy and an estimated $27.25 million in economic benefits, as well as creating 87 jobs, the Tasmanian Government’s August budget followed through with a plan to reduce its funding over the next four years.

Undeterred, Malacari says planning is underway for the next two events, adding "our funding is set through to 2017, so the Festival will be big as previous years, if not bigger.

"We're a biennial festival, March every two years, but the organisation, '10 Days', which owns the Tasmanian International Art Festival, (does) other things from time to time and one of those is ... the Speigeltent season."

Over 50 venues are being used for events and performance during the 2015 Festival including  the Burnie Arts and Function Centre; Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston; the George Town Memorial Hall; the Bridport Community Hall; the Devonport Entertainment and Convention Centre; Salamance Arts Centre, Hobart and the Theatre Royal, Hobart along with Pop-Up venues and the Speigeltent.

Spiegeltent Hobart runs from 5th to 29th March 2015.

Singer and writer Robyn Archer was the Festival's inaugural artistic director.

Tickets.com are the ticketing agency for the Festival.

For more information go to www.tendays.org.au

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