Latest News

23rd May 2008

Welcome to the Events New South Wales website

Welcome to the Events New South Wales website and to a new era in the New South Wales events industry.

It’s been just six months since the Events New South Wales Board was appointed and first met in December 2007. Since then we’ve been busy doing what the New South Wales Premier suggested – ‘get moving’ was his firm message. We’ve already partnered with the industry to develop and extend events as diverse as Sydney Festival First Night, the Autumn Racing Carnival and Song Summit Sydney.

With this new website, we’re proud to take the first steps in officially launching our new brand and declaring Events New South Wales very much in business.

So what exactly is our business about?

Although the organisation was established by the New South Wales Government, we truly see ourselves as a corporate entity – a business which attracts and develops both new events and solid, existing events to extend and increase their value, in terms of economic return and positive marketing and strategic impact – both in Sydney and New South Wales, and in key target markets elsewhere.

Importantly, we’re focused on events for all of New South Wales – for regional centres as well as Sydney. We’re also working on getting the right mix of events, from business to culture to sport and lifestyle, right through the year.

The team at Events New South Wales is excited to be part of the events industry of Sydney and New South Wales – an industry which shows time and again how extraordinarily capable, creative and professional it is through the many world-class, major events it hosts. A key element of our role will be to help align and consolidate this capability across all levels of government, and the relevant parts of the private sector, and to bring that weight to bear on winning new events, and maximising the value of all events for all the partners and stakeholders involved.

This website provides information on what we do, how we can work with you and will keep you up to date with our latest news. In the near future, it will be supplemented by a comprehensive web site for stakeholders and consumers of events in Sydney and New South Wales.

If there’s anything we can help with, please contact us. I look forward to sharing more about Events New South Wales with you in the near future.

Geoff Parmenter
Chief Executive Officer
Events New South Wales

23rd May 2008

Sydney to host 2010 Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival

Events New South Wales’ Chairman, John O’Neill, AO was joined by the Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Matt Brown and officials from the Australian Rugby Golden Oldies Organising Committee at the launch of the 18th Air New Zealand Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival to be held in Sydney from 26 September to 3 October 2010. The festival is held every two years and players must be over 35 years in age with no maximum age limit. Events New South Wales will work in partnership with Australian Rugby Golden Oldies to make this festival a success in many ways. Mr O’Neill, said “the festival was an ideal fit for the state’s new events strategy. The festival’s spirit of ‘everyone’s a winner’ is very much in keeping with our new approach to securing the right events for Sydney and the state”.

22nd May 2008

FIFA Congress

FIFA, the international governing body for football, is currently holding its annual Congress in Sydney. The invitation-only congress brings together more than 1,500 of football’s highest decision makers, often dubbed the ‘parliament of the world game’, to discuss governing statutes, the annual report and acceptance of new national associations and elections. Hosting the Congress is an important strategic initiative for Sydney in the context of Australia’s bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018. Football Federation Australia and the New South Wales Government worked together to secure the 2008 Congress in Sydney, coupled with the international friendly Soceroos vs Ghana and the world cup qualifier Australia vs China, showcasing Sydney to the most important and influential figures in World and Asian Football over the course of a full month in May-June 2008. Several substantial business events have been created to extend the impact of the Congress for the further benefit of Sydney and New South Wales.

21st May 2008

Sydney Film Festival Jury Prize

Events New South Wales is proud to be supporting the Sydney Film Festival, providing $1.4 million over four years and introducing in 2008 the International Jury Prize. Similar to the jury prizes at Cannes, Venice and Berlin Film Festivals, the Sydney Film Festival International Jury Prize will be awarded to the winning producer for visionary achievement in feature filmmaking. The competition program will comprise 12 feature films and judged by a Jury of three prominent international and two Australian film industry members. The jury, announced in Cannes on Monday May 19, includes award winning Australian director Gillian Armstrong, Iranian director, writer and producer Majid Majidi and Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi.