The Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival will not go ahead in 2027, with organisers citing rising costs, increasing volunteer workloads and indifference from the NT Government as major issues, but said they hope to continue it as a biennial event, which could see it return in 2028.
The festival, which has been a dry season staple in Darwin since its launch in 2005, is primarily run by volunteers and relies heavily on government and community grants for financial support. The organising committee said it will use the hiatus to plan and create a sustainable structure for future festivals.
“This has not been an easy decision for us, however with the rising pressure, increasing costs, decreasing funding and the amount of work involved for a small committee – we have decided that we need more time for planning and ensuring that we deliver the best festival possible,” the statement said.
“This means we will have a break in 2027 and come back with a bang in 2028.”
Seabreeze chair Andrew Arthur said the event has been experiencing indifference from the NT Government for years, which has also contributed to the decision to put the festival on hiatus next year.
The committee applied for a three-year funding agreement with the NT Government back in 2022, but were only given a one-year funding commitment, which made it difficult to plan years in advance, Mr Arthur said.
The event was subsequently cancelled in 2022, which Mr Arthur said resulted in a “lot of community kickback and a lot of community support for the festival”, which was given the three-year funding commitment in 2023.
But that went back to a one-year funding commitment in 2025, which did allow for the event to be held this year, but provided no certainty for future years.
“It’s like ‘wow’, it’s very disappointing,” Mr Arthur told ABC Radio Darwin.
“We feel undervalued by the NT Government. Other events get three-year agreements [but] Seabreeze is back to the one-year agreement. So, we thought, we’ll do it in 2026 and [then] we’ll go biennial.
“It’ll take a lot of pressure off the volunteer committee and hopefully give us a bit of time to get all our sponsors together and put it on in 2028.”
Seabreeze has been a significant event in Darwin’s calendar, celebrating the beginning of the dry season with a mix of music, food, art, and culture along the Nightcliff foreshore that also has become a showcase for students from across 30 public schools.
A $10 entry fee was implemented for access to different areas at the event this past year, which Mr Arthur said was necessary to cover a funding shortfall and “kept us in the black, with a little contingency”.
He added he hoped the Federal Government might contribute for 2028, stating that NT Government representatives did not reply to emails, which led to this year’s gate fee.
The lack of interest from the NT govt couldn’t possibly be related to the fact that Nightcliff has voted Green and Labor in recent elections, could it?