Festlinx ... an events sector industry development service provided by Arts Nexus

Festlinx.org developed out of consultation project funded by Arts Queensland and supported by Australia Council Community Partnership Fund. This first phase of the Festlinx project included:-

• Festival Forum in Cairns with 55 event organisers attending
• Tablelands Festival Forum with 14 event organisers attending
• Compliance Forum with over 60 event organisers attending
• In-depth survey was carried out with 40 Event organisers and feedback
• Assessment of regional events to ascertain the impact of compliance, programming, public interactions and general site management for event organisers in the Far North Qld region
• Consultation with potential committee members of events, audience, and practitioners, regarding an online festivals portal
• Participated in a complimentary project, CREAME, which contributed to the ongoing engagement of the festival and major event sector. Funded by the Arts Qld and the Cairns Regional Council Regional Arts Development Fund and supported innkind involvement of Arts Nexus team as a mentors and participants of the consultation

FESTLINX supports event organisers with a focus on the many that have nominated themselves to co-ordinate these events. Arts Nexus acknowledges that the majority of organisers volunteer most of their time if not all of their time, to putting on these events for their community.

FESTLINX values the many industries, people and the broader community to ensure events and festivals are successful. FESTLINX is a cross-Shire approach with the aim to build audiences and showcase the regions excellence.

Through the FESTLINX project, Arts Nexus has been able to assist events to be more compliant, safe and well run and supports agencies to be able to communicate directly with the organisers, and facilitate sector-wide communication, collaboration and promotion.

FESTLINX is a portal for promoting the Far North Qld Regional events with effective links with government, business, tourism and the media. FESTLINX website has been funded by the Cairns Regional Council, Cassowary Council and the Cook Shire RADF programs with the support of the Queensland State Government through Arts Qld.

The most crucial element of this project is the skilling of Event Organisers and their volunteers to support the efficient management of Festivals and encourage the professional development of the individuals with the view of raising their employment prospects with other events around the region and nationally. By including online forums and networking discussions and freely publishing “how-to-do” templates, FESTLINX is a repository for resources and encourages organisational skills, shared learning and community-driven ownership.

Though copyright of the site will remain with Arts Nexus, people will be encouraged to utilise and copy the documents and developed templates as provided free for use where-ever necessary.

We hope that you utilise the network that can be found here at FESTLINX and we encourage you to access the information regarding practitioners available to support your event.

FESTLINX: another community service by Arts Nexus Inc.