Adrian Corbett

The Fairfax gives young people lifelong skills and the opportunity to find their voice, their identity and most importantly, the chance to connect with others.


Each year the Fairfax mentors one young person who seeks a career in the arts through its Young Artist in Residence [YAR] program. A paid, 6 month internship, it involves a recent school leaver and previous Fairfax participant working with the committee learning how to develop, manage, fund, promote and deliver the Fairfax. They also engage in work experience with premier arts organisations throughout Australia, and at its completion they receive $3000 to go to their future arts education or projects.

Previous recipients of the Fairfax Festival’s Young Artist in Residence program now work with Regional Arts Victoria and various theatre companies throughout Australia creating theatre and continuing to work with young people.

“I used to act to hide, but now it is for fun and because I love it and all because of the Fairfax and what it gave me. My time being the YAR was life changing and if I could, I would do it again in a heartbeat.” Alex Comitti (2013 Young Artist in Residence)

“By the end of the Fairfax week I was tired and ready for it to be over but the smiles on the kids’ faces and the excitement in the dressing rooms on Gala night made it all worth it. I remember being that kid, getting my makeup done; strolling onto the stage & into the bright lights for everyone in the audience to look at me, it’s an amazing feeling and it makes me very proud to be able to bring this to other kids.” Emily Noonan (2012 Young Artist in Residence)

“Overall, it was a fantastic year and I’ve come away with a wealth of knowledge and a lot of skills that I previously didn’t have and probably wouldn’t have learnt outside of the Festival. It has been an invaluable experience.” Caitlyn Barclay (2011 Young Artist in Residence)

The Fairfax Festival gives young people the skills they need to tell their story, in their community with equipment easily available to them; and by bringing leading Australian theatre companies and artists out of the city into country Victoria, we are showing young people that they do not have to leave the country to realise their artistic potential.

By bringing all the participants and leaders together to Swan Hill to live, work, learn and create together in a non-competitive, respectful and supportive environment we will
• Cultivate connections between isolated groups and between young people.
• Reduce the sense of isolation felt by young people.
• Challenge beliefs and stereotypes.
• Provide opportunities to engage in arts practices previously unavailable to them.

There are many reasons why the Fairfax Festival is so desperately needed –
1. The statistics for the Swan Hill region alone are alarming to say the least.
     i.  Youth in this region self harm at seven times the state average
     ii.  It has double the state average in teenage pregnancy
     iii.  It has the worst Yr 12 attainment rate in Victoria.
[DEECD Adolescent and Community Profile 2010].

2.  Many of our groups come from communities too small to have a theatre or to have arts on the curriculum [Manangatang, population of 448; Sea Lake, population of 634]; even the bigger centres such as Shepperton only have performing arts on the curriculum for certain year levels. For many, the Fairfax is the only opportunity young people with a love of performance have to learn the skills they need to perform and realise they are not alone.

3.   At present country towns are suffering economically. Swan Hill itself has 29 vacant stores in the town centre; events that bring people into town and support local business are desperately needed. The Fairfax Festival in 2013, injected $102,000 into the local economy.

4.  The Mallee has a diverse range of marginalised migrant and refugee groups. Some areas of the Mallee see nearly 25% of their population born overseas [2006 ABS]. These groups are crying out for ways to connect their young people with the larger community and to give them something to do in ways that are rewarding for the individuals and the community as a whole. The Fairfax Festival has proved over the years that it is capable of achieving just this.

5.  Since 2011, the Fairfax has welcomed non-mainstream groups to the Fairfax - Kalianna Special School, Swan Hill Specialist School and Echuca Specialist School have all been involved. They recognise the importance of giving young people, who are isolated due to their disabilities, the opportunity to learn and connect in the same way as everyone else.

The Fairfax Festival takes place over three stages:
1. Two x 2 day In-Community Workshops - July, August and September
Theatre companies and artists travel into regional centres and collaborate with two groups each in the months leading up to the Fairfax Festival. During this time artists live in the community, get to know the region and work with the groups to collaboratively create a unique performance piece based on their stories.

2. Fairfax Festival Week (16 – 19 September)
All groups and artists travel to Swan Hill to finalise their newly crafted work during this week. For four days everyone lives and works together as they not only fine tune their performance, but also work with each of the twelve artists to investigate and understand their specialist performance style. Ultimately this provides each group with a thorough understanding of one artist's style as well as giving them a 'taster' of the work of each of the other artists.
All participants, leaders and artists also see professional productions by touring companies, youth film festivals and engage in QandA sessions with actors, directors and musicians.

3. YESFest (Young Entertainers in the Street Festival) - Sept 19 from 5pm to late
A community celebration of youth creativity and potential, each group performs their newly created work alongside stages which showcase regional youth bands and singers.