Fond farewell to Melbourne Fringe

Esther Anatolitis will be stepping down from her role as CEO of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, after five years in the job to pursue a new position as Director of Regional Arts Victoria.

"I've had an extraordinary time at Melbourne Fringe," Ms Anatolitis told Neos Kosmos, "it's a vital organisation for the independent arts, and I've been really fortunate to have worked with some enormously talented people."

Since 2008, Ms Anatolitis has been at the helm of one of Melbourne's most vibrant and artistic festivals. During her time, she propelled Melbourne Fringe into a world class arts organisation, and oversaw some of the most successful festival's in its thirty-three year history.
"Across my years we've reoriented the organisation towards a stronger artist focus, presented hundreds of shows each year to hundreds of thousands of audiences," she says.
In 2011 alone, Melbourne Fringe worked with over 5,000 artists in more than 150 spaces across Victoria, with 250,000 people attending a Melbourne Fringe event or show. Melbourne Fringe is pivotal to the success and the sustainability of the independent arts community who make Victoria the state of the arts.

"Arts strategy on a grand scale is what drives me, whether it's sophisticated mentorship and salon programs, or transformative public spaces. I'm very much looking forward to immersing in our state of the arts when I begin my new role as Director of Regional Arts Victoria."

When asked about highlights in her time as the CEO of one of Melbourne's largest arts and cultural festival, she was quick to point out there are too many to mention.
"I've seen some really important, experimental new work which is changing what's possible in the arts - and this is one of Melbourne Fringe's most critical roles.Across the world, Melbourne Fringe is unique among arts festivals with the overwhelming majority of our artists coming from right here in Melbourne.

"The Melbourne Fringe Festival is truly an artist-driven festival made for this city, the arts capital of Australia. Most other festivals need to import their work to fabricate a critical mass, but here we live and breathe the arts, and our audiences are curious creative risk-takers. It's a gift, it really is."
The Melbourne Fringe is the leading organisation for the independent arts in Victoria.

The Festival opens on Wednesday 26 September and runs until Sunday 14 October.