Wesley Enoch has unveiled his fifth and final program for the Sydney Festival, which runs 6 – 26 January. Like festivals around the country, the program has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We went ‘all Australian made’ back in March,” Enoch tells Limelight.

Wesley Enoch. Photo © Darren Thomas

While the practical reasons of border closures were part of the decision, “we thought that would be the right thing to do,” he says. “To focus on what our artistic community needs.”

“How can the festival play a role in helping both the industry out, but also inviting the people of Sydney back into the city, back into owning their city in a safe way?”

Planning for the Festival has been challenging on a number of levels. There will be no Spiegel Tent this year in order to adhere to health restrictions, but the economic uncertainty across 2020 has also made things more difficult. “It’s been a hard slog for sponsors, to be honest,” Enoch admits, but “it’s been amazing to watch philanthropists really step...