Tropfest finds a new home in Centennial Park

The world's largest short film festival, Tropfest, will make Centennial Parklands its new location as of December this year.

Welcoming the announcement of the start date for the Tropfest, on 18th December 2013, Centennial Parklands Chief Executive Kim Ellis stated "in this, Centennial Park's 125th Anniversary year, we are delighted that the 'People's Park' will welcome what is truly an iconic Australian event. Centennial

Parklands has signed an agreement with Tropfest's founder and Director, John Polson to become the new home of Tropfest for the next five years.

"As a public parklands, one of our strategic priorities is to actively encourage a diversity of passive recreation, sporting, cultural and education opportunities for the community. This event will bring tens of thousands to the Parklands to participate in what is a high watermark for up-and-coming Australian film talent."

"Tropfest's move further reinforces the invaluable support that Centennial Parklands provides to the Australian film industry.

"We are already the home of Fox Studios, the Australian Film, Television and Radio School and Moonlight Cinema. Last year alone we hosted over 170 filming and photography shoots, including The Great Gatsby and Wolverine."

"Not only is Centennial Parklands the heart of Sydney's film production industry, but we now host two of the most iconic outdoor film events on the Sydney calendar."

Festival Director, John Polson said he is excited about the changes, adding "we've been extremely privileged the Domain is now an important part of our history, however, with our steady growing audience, Centennial Parklands is really the only venue that offers us the space we now need. This will be an exciting new chapter for us."

"The change to December also reflects the growth Tropfest is expecting both locally, and internationally. Our significant increase in international guests both regular audiences and VIP attendees has meant we need to think more globally now. Our new date better fits in with the international film calendar including events like the Oscars. It's also a magical time of year in Australia. What better way to kick off our glorious summer than with Tropfest in Centennial Park?"

Centennial Parklands is a self-funded public parklands which last year attracted more than 140,000 patrons to outdoor events, with a further 350,000 patrons attending indoor events in the Moore Park entertainment precinct. The Parklands supports a wide-ranging cultural and artistic program, with ticketed and non-ticketed events, as well as a range of charitable events. More than $520,000 was raised in Centennial Parklands last year for charitable causes.

Image: Tropfest Director John Polson

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