I have extensive experience leading and managing major festivals and events across Australia, delivering programs with attendance of tens of thousands. I have a proven track record of strategic planning, developing long-term visions, and achieving budget growth. As Executive Director of the Festival of Darwin for 11 years, I increased the annual budget from $129,000 to $550,000 through corporate sponsorship, grants, and partnerships. I have strong skills in project management, stakeholder engagement, cross-cultural collaboration, and financial oversight to deliver large-scale, innovative programs on time and on budget.

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EXPERTISE IN FESTIVALS AND EVENTS
PROVEN TRACK RECORD IN DELIVERING HIGH PROFILE EVENTS AND THE ABILITY
TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT LONG TERM STRATEGIES.
I have substantial experience in the events industry, delivering high profile events, with
attendances in the tens of thousands of people, beginning with large-scale, community
events in Victoria (1980-1991), including a major community arts program for the
Melbourne Moomba Festival.
Given leadership of the Bougainvillea Festival in Darwin (1992), as its Executive Director, I
developed and successfully implemented long-term strategic business and marketing plans
for its evolution into the highly acclaimed Festival of Darwin (1996-2002). Over eleven
consecutive years, I delivered Festival programs in Darwin with up to fifty events across 18
days that included high profile, large-scale events attracting gatherings of up to ten
thousand to the Botanic Gardens, The Esplanade, The Wharf Precinct and the Darwin City
Centre.
Features included the annual Grand Parade (1992-2002), the 50th anniversary ‘Bombing of
Darwin’ light and fireworks theatrical spectacular ‘Line of Fire’ at the East Point Gun Turret
(1992), The Maningrida Clever Kids & Flying Fruit Fly Circus (1995), Art Head Land Darwin
Public Art Installations (1996), Darwin’s participation in the SOGOC Sydney Olympics Sea
Change Festival (1998) and the ‘Days of Old Darwin’ program of celebratory events (2002).
Beyond Darwin, with Artback NT (2004-2006), I had input into the Alice Desert Festival
and Gove Peninsula Festival (2004), and delivered event programs for the Barunga Festival
and Merrepen Arts Festival (2005). Returning to Melbourne I produced the official opening
event for the National Institute of Circus Arts new $10 million Circus Centre (2007).
Moving to Byron Bay, I delivered the Byron Bay Writers Festival Cabaret (2008 & 2009),
the NSW Tourism sponsored ‘Bikes N’ Kites Festival’ (2009) and Byron Bay New Years Eve
official celebratory event (2011/12).
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT SKILLS, EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH GOVERNMENT,
BUSINESS & KEY STAKEHOLDERS INCL. LOCAL COMMUNITIES, IN FESTIVALS &
EVENTS DEVELOPMENT.
I have high level leadership and management skills. In developing the Festival of Darwin, it
was my task as Executive Director to engage with a broad range of stakeholders in forming
a membership body, with full voting rights, comprising arts organisations and
practitioners, community groups, government departments, corporate entities and
business interests who would work together for the development of the Festival. Starting
from zero, I succeeded in developing a membership of more than thirty participants and
establishing a structure of sub-committees, with members meeting regularly and
contributing their expertise, knowledge and resources towards developing policies and a
strong Festival vision.

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With the support of this broad community membership, I was able to advocate to the NT
Government and to the Darwin City Council for growth and support of an ambitious
Festival of Darwin vision. I was able to develop positive relations with local business
groups including Darwin City Promotions, Darwin Wharf Precinct and Casuarina Square,
corporate sponsors including Santos Ltd, NT Credit Society, Territory Mutual, Qantas,
Telstra and Tattersalls and tourism bodies including Top End Tourism and the NT Tourist
Commission. I successfully engaged local arts and cultural organisations in contributing to
the Festival’s development. These included Larrakia Nation, MAGNT, Darwin
Entertainment Centre, Darwin Theatre Company, Browns Mart, Tracks Dance, Music NT, 24
Hour Art, CDU Fine Arts Department, NT Craft Council, Ethnic Communities Council,
Darwin Multicultural Arts and Corrugated Iron Youth Theatre. I developed long-term
Festival program partnerships with the NT Department of Education and Training, The
Supreme Court of NT, NT Department of Ethnic Affairs and G.B. Darwin Botanic Gardens.
In 1996 I was appointed the Chair of the Steering Committee for a Commonwealth and NT
Government sponsored initiative, to explore opportunities for a potential ‘Asia-Pacific and
Indigenous Arts Festival’ to be held in Darwin. The Committee had representation from
arts, cultural, Indigenous, education, natural sciences and tourism sectors. After extensive
consultations with potential stakeholders, it supported a proposal to develop a signature
project, the 1998 ‘Asia-Pacific Cultural Village’, and appointed me as its Creative Director. I
collaborated with cultural organizations, engaging artists and volunteer participants from
Thai, Indonesian, Papua-New Guinean, East-Timorese, Filipino, Torres Strait Islander,
Maori, Pacific Islander and Indigenous communities in the construction of an eclectic,
hand-crafted, traditional style, natural-material village of pavilions around a central
performance space. Scheduled as an official event for the SOGOC Sydney 2000 Olympics
‘Sea Change’ Festival, for three weeks at the Darwin Botanic Gardens, with a daily schedule
of workshops for schools and free daily public performances, the Village attracted ten
thousand people per week and was extended an additional five weeks by popular demand.
HIGHLY DEVELOPED EXPERTISE AND SOUND EXPERIENCE IN PROJECT
MANAGEMENT, CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND PROVISION OF HIGH LEVEL ADVICE.
I have a strong capacity for balancing diverse responsibilities while operating under
pressure and meeting deadlines. In delivering annual festivals, apart from budgeting and
financial management responsibilities, producing large scale events, coordinating
community projects and serving the Committees of Management and the Membership of
non-profit entities, I simultaneously managed public relations, marketing, publicity and
sponsorship, coordinated venue logistics, technical production and concessionaries and
executed regular administrative duties and statutory requirements.
At the Festival of Darwin I developed efficiencies by setting in place project management
systems with clearly defined critical path and milestones settings, detailed budget
spreadsheets, contract templates, events logistics and production flow-charts and
templates for artists and contractors’ schedules and itineraries. I regularly monitored
budgets, ensured databases were kept up to date and relevant, conducted weekly staff
reporting meetings and established protocols for administrative procedures.

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As CEO of the Festival organisation, I provided reports, critical analysis and high level
advice to the Committee of Management to inform programming and expenditure
decisions. I prepared and presented discussion papers with recommendations for strategic
policy development and planning with political, corporate, strategic, public relations and
other advice to inform the development, formulation or review of organisational goals and
objectives and contribute to ongoing assessment of progress on business plans.
For the Festival of Darwin I presented policy advice to influential national and NT peak
industry forums and was the official advocate at meetings with funding bodies and
ministerial policy advisors. I represented the organisation at annual round-table funding
meetings with the NT Government and I addressed Darwin City Council’s annual budget
estimates.
With Artback NT, I provided high level advice, which was adopted, to DCITA in respect to
models for regional touring and to the Regional Arts Australia National Summit on Regional
and Remote Touring.
When living in Eltham Shire, Victoria, I was appointed Chairperson of the Shire Council’s
Performing Arts Committee, charged with formulating policy advice for development of
performance arts infrastructure and events in the Shire.
DEMONSTRATED STRONG STRATEGIC PLANNING, CONCEPTUAL AND ANALYTICAL
SKILLS.
I have strong strategic planning, conceptual and analytical skills, demonstrated in a long
history of planning and creating arts and cultural projects, festival and events. These
strengths were at the core of the planning and delivery of distinctive programs for the
Festival of Darwin, drawing on the strength of Indigenous culture and the influences of the
Asia-Pacific region. Eleven annual Festivals that I designed and delivered for Darwin
consolidated up to 50 different events into each year’s schedule. I conceived new forms of
presentation, uncovering new public spaces and developing new ways for the city to be
transformed into a place for community celebrations. I was the Artistic Director and the
Creative Producer of all major signature events, utilising music, theatre, dance, circus,
visual and new media art forms to engage the public in new and exciting ways.
Conceptually, the Festivals explored every art form and a wide range of creative
community cultural activity. As well as being meaningful to locals, they appealed to
national and international audiences. Innovative artistic works were presented alongside
popular events, including a Grand Parade that inspired four months of community arts
practice and included schools participation. I transformed spaces such as the outdoor
courtyard of Darwin Entertainment Centre and the car park of Stokes Hill Wharf into
Festival hubs and occupied unusual venues such as the foyer of Darwin Supreme Court for
concert presentations and the Great Hall of Parliament House for an international
exhibition of contemporary Balinese art and for the installation of a large sand sculpture
created by the highly esteemed Ramingining artist Jimmy Wululu.

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For the Festival of Darwin I was charged with and successfully led the development of a
detailed Strategic Business Plan in a processes that engaged the Committee of
Management, the Association Membership and staff in articulation of the organisation’s
vision and mission statement and in identifying the objectives, goals and strategies to be
adopted and implemented along with a matrix of Key Performance Indicators. I provided
detailed statistical analysis and qualitative and quantitative data measures for
comprehensive annual reporting against the Strategic Business Plan and for acquittal of NT
Government Sponsorship Agreements against agreed KPI’s.
When working for the National Institute of Circus Arts as Marketing and Development
Manager, I was a member of the elite management team that regularly reviewed the
organisation’s ‘Strategic Plan 2007-2009’. I was further responsible for the development of
periodical marketing calendars, with a matrix of activities and budget allocations aligned to
an annual ‘Marketing and Development Strategic Plan 2007’ and further correlated this to
the ‘Annual Business Plan 2007’.
STRONG OPERATIONAL SKILLS IN LOGISTICS, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, OH&S,
CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY.
I have substantial operational skills in logistics and extensive experience with crisis
management and security. I am very experienced in managing major event sites including
sports grounds and public parks and organising road closures and traffic control systems
for Grand Parades. I am experienced in organising crowd marshals, site security, hire and
installation of amenities including grandstand seating, sponsor marquees, barriers, rubbish
management systems, toilets and safety lighting. I have extensive experience in contracting
outdoor staging systems and briefing technical production teams for the provision of large
scale concert sound and lighting systems and in travel, freight and accommodation
schedules. I am very experienced in engaging police, fire brigade, first-aid and emergency
services personnel in the planning stages of major public events. I managed insurance
policies in relation to employees, public liability, properties and cash security.
For the Festival of Darwin I managed a 1,200 square metres workshop in Winnellie, utilised
for construction and storage of Grand Parade floats and festival paraphernalia where arts
workers and volunteers could potentially be exposed to work site risks. For this and for
event venues generally, with support from OH&S officers, I developed risk management
plans that clearly identified potential risks, assessed the likelihood for each risk and its
consequence, prescribed mitigation strategies to reduce their likelihood and nominated a
responsible person for managing each particular risk.
Developing very large programs of events on very tight budgets, I have great proficiency in
resource management. For the Festival of Darwin, for instance, while maintaining just two
part-time staff most of the year round, I recruited a team of six additional full time staff and
a variable number of casuals, in a staggered time frame, as required, in the six to three
months lead up to the launch of the Festival. We were able to achieve optimum productivity
with multi-tasking and collaboration within a supportive team environment.

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HIGH LEVEL OF BUDGET CONTROL AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, AND
ESTABLISHING A SUSTAINABLE SPONSORSHIP MATRIX.
I have an impeccable record of monitoring and managing event budgets and a great depth
of experience in financial planning and optimal investment of fiscal resources. I achieved
outstanding funding submission results in the context of community festivals and events. I
am experienced in developing highly successful corporate partnerships using structured
sponsorship matrices with staged, detailed, proportionate cost-benefit analyses provided
for different levels. These matrices were retained, in the case of the Festival of Darwin, over
many years, with rare recalibrations, toughly negotiated where necessary, to reflect the
growth demands in event budgets.
As the Executive Director of the Festival of Darwin, I was responsible for developing and
managing year-round operational budgets for meeting scheduled wages, equipment
purchases, vehicle leases, workshop and storage space leases, utilities and operational
overheads along with program budgets to pay invoices from artists, arts companies and
project facilitators and for event production, marketing, publicity, travel, accommodation,
venue hire and technical services. I invested funds advanced to the Festival for these
purposes into interest bearing, roll-over, bank accounts in order to increase their value
over the period of development of events and calculated the amount of periodic
withdrawals required to meet budget commitments, in expectation of projected
expenditures.
When I started with the Bougainvillea Festival in 1992, its budget had previously peaked at
just $129,000 and I was tasked by the Treasurer to take the organization to a half million
dollar budget within five years. I identified strategies for increasing grants and corporate
sponsorship opportunities and planned, prepared and submitted annual operational and
program budget growth proposals to the NT Government, Darwin City Council, NT Tourist
Commission and other key partners.
I developed the first ever comprehensive sponsorship information package for the Festival
with a formal matrix of benefits and associated costs and began negotiations with existing
sponsors to increase their commitments to support the new vision for the growth of the
Festival, towards its rebranding as the Festival of Darwin. I researched and successfully
indentified opportunities for new corporate partnerships to add to the Festival’s growing
support base.
I was able to identify ways of attracting consistent project funding and succeed in gaining
unprecedented support for Festival programs from bodies such as the Australia Council for
the Arts, Playing Australia, Festivals Australia, NT Community Benefit Fund, ATSIC, NT
Department of Education, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and others including
the Australia Indonesia Institute, NT Youth Services and NT Council for the Aged.
By 1996, when the Festival of Darwin was officially inaugurated, I had achieved a budget of
$550,000, an increase of 426% in five years and I sustained these budget levels till the end
of my tenure in 2002. I provided regular reports and annual acquittals, addressed Key

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Performance Indicators as required and used Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for budget
preparation and monitoring.
STRONG KNOWLEDGE & UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATENESS,
ABILITY TO INTERACT EFFECTIVELY WITH PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE CULTURES
From my earliest work in Victoria and particularly in my later work for the Festival of
Darwin and with Artback NT, I developed successful relationships with diverse cultural
communities, gaining their trust and cooperation in the development of complex
collaborative projects and negotiating comprehensive artistic processes and outcomes that
addressed sensitivities relating to cross-cultural engagement.
In the NT, I had the opportunity to engage on projects and spend considerable time with a
range of regional and remote communities and their representative artists, local
organisations and community councils. They include Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant
Creek, Jabiru, Daly River, Ngukurr, Barunga, Gove, Yirrkala, Maningrida, Gumbalanya,
Ramingining, Galiwinku on Elcho Island and Pulurumpi on Melville Island.
In 2002 I developed a very successful CCD collaborative project with Darwin’s Larrakia
Indigenous community, developing a multi-faceted program over nine months, culminating
in a range of multi-arts presentations at the Festival of Darwin, titled “Days of Old Darwin –
String Bands and Shake Hands”. The project celebrated generations of musical and cultural
traditions and brought together generations of Larrakia families. An ABC TV documentary
of the project was broadcast nationally.
My expertise in cross-cultural creative development of projects and events and
commensurate knowledge and understanding of culturally appropriate processes
demonstrated in my work with the Festival of Darwin was officially recognised by the
Australia Council for the Arts in 2003, when they granted me a prestigious Community
Cultural Development award with a funded, international professional development
residency in Paris, France.
STRONG COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS SKILLS AND AN ABILITY TO
MAINTAIN A CULTURE OF INNOVATION, PRODUCTIVITY AND BUY-
IN/COLLABORATION.
I have long standing experience in representing organisations publicly, beginning through
my earliest community cultural development experience, when I was a media spokes-
person and campaign advocate for community based groups in Victoria.
For the Festival of Darwin I developed successful relationships with local arts producers,
venues and cultural organisations. I engaged constructively with them and was able to gain
their full cooperation in developing significant programs that reflected and celebrated
Darwin’s diverse artistic and multicultural community. I have demonstrated a strong
capacity to engage with external parties as potential stakeholders and to negotiate and
resolve issues with them to achieve innovative, productive and collaborative, positive

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outcomes. In my public relations capacity with the Festival I prepared and delivered
keynote speeches for official public relations functions and drafted notes for speeches from
the Chairman of the Festival. I hosted and briefed national and international journalists
whom I brought to the Festival in partnership with NT Tourism. I represented the Festival
publicly and was frequently interviewed for local, national and international radio,
television and print media.
In my professional engagements in the arts and entertainment industry I negotiated and
managed contracts with local, national and international companies and artists, with
project leaders and facilitators, with arts managers and with corporate sponsors. I have
represented the interests of community based non-profit organisations and lobbied
governments and policy makers for support of their initiatives. I have recruited and
managed passionate and talented arts workers and gained the support of volunteers to
implement outstandingly successful programs.
TESTIMONIALS
"Calafuri has managed what other festival directors across Australia seem to find
impossible - he has mounted a program headlined by local performers rather than
disorientated star turns from the big budget travelling circuit"- September 2000, journalist
Nicholas Rothwell in The Australian newspaper.
"A new focus has emerged…with executive director Fabrizio Calafuri at the helm, the
Festival of Darwin has become a jewel in the crown of Territory culture.”- October 2000,
Ministerial Statement from NT Minister for Arts, in NT Government Hansard.
“Festival of Darwin, long established as one of the nation's best-conceived arts
gatherings, has been designed this year around a remarkable act of cultural rescue: the
restaging of the lovely songs and music of the Sunshine Club.” – August 2002, journalist
Nicolas Rothwell, in The Australian newspaper.
“Calafuri succeeded in presenting a “songline of the north'', illustrating the depth of
Darwin's connections with Asian cultures and revealing the commonality of the musical
and theatrical traditions from the Kimberley to the Torres Strait.” – August 2003, journalist
Nicolas Rothwell, in The Australian newspaper.
“Festival Artistic Director Fabrizio Calafuri and team members…set about the ambitious
(and courageous) task…focused around…the Sunshine Club era, using musicians and
dancers from the local community. It was an unforgettable sight – a three level stage…and
a huge screen…the music played, the dancers danced and the huge crowd stayed till the
end, enjoying every moment. For the old Darwin mixed race community it restored a sense
of pride. For newer residents, it gave them a new dimension to their sense of place in
cosmopolitan Darwin.” – March 2005, Folk Historian Jeff Corfield, presentation to
Folklore Conference, Canberra.

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