British arts leader Mackenzie was appointed as the Festival’s AD in 2022, with the event’s then chair Judy Potter describing her at the time as “a powerhouse of the British and European festival and arts communities” and commenting that the Festival was “very excited” to see what she would bring to Adelaide.

Mackenzie – whose previous roles include director of the London 2012 Festival (during the 2012 Olympics) and artistic director of the Holland Festival – oversaw the 2023 Adelaide Festival (curated by former artistic directors Rachel Healy and Neil Armfield) and programmed this year’s event.

She had also been expected to program the 2025 and 2026 Festivals, but it was announced on the weekend that she is moving into a new role within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) as program director, arts, culture and creative industries policy.

Former Adelaide Festival artistic director Brett Sheehy (2005-2008) will finalise and oversee the delivery of the 2025 Festival program and continue preparations for the 2026 program.

Brett Sheehy.

“Known for his previous outstanding leadership of Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, Melbourne Festival and Melbourne Theatre Company, Brett will guarantee a vibrant and sustainable future for Adelaide Festival and ensure it remains the pre-eminent, highly successful festival of Australian and international performing arts, as it has been for over 60 years,” Adelaide Festival Corporation chair Tracey Whiting said in a statement.

The State Government, meanwhile, heralded Mackenzie’s DPC role as one of three “exciting new appointments” to support its “vision for expanding and supporting arts, culture and creativity in South Australia”.

Significantly, one of these roles is executive director of Arts South Australia ­– a position that was abolished by the Marshall Liberal Government in 2018 when it dismissed then executive director Peter Louca.

Arts Minister Andrea Michaels said Clare Mockler, a former CEO of the City of Adelaide, would join the DPC as interim executive director of Arts South Australia, with the Government planning to advertise in the coming months to fill the role for the longer term.

“She [Mockler] is equipped with an array of talents that make her a perfect person for the role, and I look forward to working with her and her team to deliver and embed the state’s impending landmark cultural policy,” Michaels said.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Ruth to her critical new role, as well as thank her again for her outstanding stewardship and delivery of one of our state’s premier artistic celebrations, the Adelaide Festival.”

The third appointment within the DPC will see Becc Bates, current director of creative industries, become director strategy and investment ­– a role the Government says will involve her working with Mockler to deliver on “significant priorities within the state’s cultural landscape”.

The changes come as South Australia’s creative sector is nervously awaiting the launch of the new cultural policy, which is scheduled for “mid 2024”.

Asked whether the role of program director, arts, culture and creative industries policy had been publicly advertised, Minister Michaels said: “No, Ruth Mackenzie is highly credentialed and has international experience in delivering arts and culture policies including as an adviser for the Blair Labor Government in the UK, and I asked her to support the government as we continue to develop our new landmark cultural policy to guide the future of arts, culture and creativity in SA.” 

Michaels did not give a date for the policy launch, instead saying it would be released “in the coming months”.

Meanwhile, there have been suggestions the Adelaide Festival is facing financial pressure.

Both the Festival and the State Government’s statements in relation to the leadership changes refer to the “record attendance” at the 2024 Adelaide Festival ­– the 555,505 figure includes several major free events – but unlike in previous years, the box office result was not publicly announced at the conclusion of the event.

A Festival spokesperson told InDaily this morning that the 2024 box office result was $4,327,766. This is significantly down on 2023’s $5.4 million and also less than 2022’s $4.9 million.

At an Estimate Committee hearing at the end of June, John Gardner asked Minister Michaels if the Festival had overrun its budget for the 2023-24 financial year, adding: “I have been advised it has been told the Festival has to make significant savings for the next Festival.” Michaels responded that she was “not aware of any advice coming through on their budget situation at the end of this financial year”.

InDaily understands it is likely the Adelaide Festival will post a deficit for 2023-24 but has been told it will be able draw on its own reserves to address the budget shortfall.

In terms of planning for the 2025 Adelaide Festival, a spokesperson said this morning that many of the marquee events have already been locked in. The first three key events are scheduled to be announced on August 26 ahead of the full program launch planned for November 4.

Sheehy said in a statement that his mission was “to ensure that we present Adelaide with an outstanding 2025 Festival, as engaging, challenging, entertaining and irresistible as any before, and to hand over to the 2026 artistic director a festival in the best possible health”.

“To be able to return to Adelaide to contribute again to Australia’s greatest international arts festival is an extraordinary privilege and an opportunity which I could not resist,” he added.

The Adelaide Festival said recruitment for the artistic director for the 2026 Festival onwards will begin shortly.