Major Adelaide festivals nominated for Ruby Awards

Four of Adelaide’s foremost festivals are among nominees for South Australia’s arts themed Ruby Awards.

Named in honour of late arts patron Dame Ruby Litchfield and organised by the SA government through Arts South Australia, they are held on Saturday, December 1 at the Queen’s Theatre in Adelaide.

Adelaide Festival 2018, Adelaide Fringe 2018 SALA Festival 2017 and WOMADelaide 2018 are finalists in the best festival category.

Twenty-eight finalists were announced across seven new or re-named categories.

They are: best festival; best work or event – both within and outside a festival; best work, event or project for young people; best community or regional event or project; outstanding contribution by an organisation or group; and the Made in Adelaide award for artistic and cultural achievement by a SA individual or organisation outside the state.

Two new awards are introduced to pay honour to two late SA arts pioneers.

Uncle Stevie Goldsmith is remembered with the Stevie Gadlabarti Goldsmith Memorial Award which recognises artistic and cultural achievement by a South Australian Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander-focused organisation or individual

Longtime Fringe force and Cabaret Festival co-founder Frank Ford AM gives his name to the Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award for an outstanding artist or arts worker aged under 35.

Arts South Australia director of arts program, organisations and initiatives Jennifer Layther said: “This year the Ruby Awards are more inclusive than ever, with a raft of new award categories designed to better recognise and celebrate the diverse groups and people that that make up South Australia’s arts and cultural sector.”

All winners receive a bespoke, ruby-coloured glasswork designed and made at the JamFactory.

The recipient of the prestigious premier’s award for lifetime achievement will also be honoured with a gold nameplate on a seat at the Festival Theatre.