While trouble surrounding music festivals has dominated headlines in the past year, some locals have pointed to more specific issues contributing to the losses incurred at the most recent Castlemaine festivals.

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Former Castlemaine Festival board member Mark Anstey, who served from 2010 to 2018, says the community has been shocked by the news. While the recent collapse is a surprise, he says, the last couple of festivals have been underwhelming.

“There’s been less community involvement, there’s been no schools programs and fewer big, free, celebratory events. It just felt like it was a step backwards, it was getting more exclusive,” he says.

Anstey runs the arts precinct Lot19, home to studios for 22 local artists, as well as the annual event Castlemaine Idyll – a riff on Australian Idol in which 30-odd locals sing karaoke before a crowd of about 1000, with guest celebrity judges awarding a winner.

He argued that disbanding forums that facilitated community involvement – such as Castlemaine Created, which presented and produced works by local artists and companies, the schools program and the international program which invited overseas artists to town– have been detrimental to the event.

“While the state festival has been floundering, the fringe festival has been barrelling forward,” he says.

Former program manager at Main FM, Castlemaine’s community radio station, Suzane Donisthorpe, agreed, describing the last two festivals as dull. She wants a move away from staging most events at one large venue – in 2023, it was the Big Top, which was flooded out – and a shift back to more diverse locations, such as the opera held in a mine near Maldon or the theatre show staged in the treetops of Vaughn.

Future plans include the development of the 1860s Goods Shed site, which the festival runs year-round as a creative hub, hosting artist residencies, educational opportunities and professional development for artists.

$6 million in state government and private funding has been earmarked to develop the Goods Shed into a fully fledged arts venue.

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This would anchor the festival in financial viability and stability, and position Castlemaine as a centre of arts excellence in the region, Mayes said.

A spokesperson for Creative Victoria said:“This is a challenging time for the festival board and team as they work through complex issues. We will continue to work with the festival board and the administrators as they seek to better understand the festival’s position and options for the future, including the next steps for the Castlemaine Goods Shed project.”

Administrators Deloitte Financial Advisory have taken over operational control of the festival and will work closely with stakeholders “to assess the options available to restructure the operations, preserve the legacy of the festival and determine a path forward”.

Their report is expected mid-May.

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