10 Days on the Island: Festival to get name change
Tasmania's long-running 10 Days on the Island festival will have a new name for the 2015 event.
From next year the biennial event, which began in 2001, will be called the Tasmanian International Arts Festival.
The original concept of the festival brought together performances from other islands.
Past programs have included artists from as far afield as Reunion Island, Manhattan and Taiwan.
It is hoped the change will make it easier for visitors and artists to know what the festival is about.
Artistic director David Malacari said the old name was difficult on a world stage and the new one was more descriptive.
"The old name ... really in the modern world doesn't say where we are or what we do and when we're talking on an international stage they seem to be pretty important things to be able to get out with a minimum amount of talk," he said.
"But when you say Tasmanian International Arts Festival they immediately have an understanding of what it is you do and where you are.
"I think that will help us contribute to a greater extent to Brand Tasmania, to Tasmania's arts and cultural reputation, which is significant ... and that'll help visitors and locals alike know exactly what it is they're coming to and what they're likely to see."
In the August budget, the State Government followed through with a plan to reduce funding over the next four years.
But Mr Malacari said planning was underway for the next two events.
"Our funding is set through to 2017, so the festival [next year] will be big as previous years, if not bigger," he said.
"We're a biennial festival, March every two years, but the organisation '10 Days', which owns the Tasmanian International Art Festival, we do other things from time to time and one of those is this year was the Speigeltent season."
A KPMG report showed that the injection of $2.5 million for last year's festival generated an estimated $27.25 million in economic benefits and created 87 jobs.
The festival was the brainchild of the late Labor Premier Jim Bacon.
Singer and writer Robyn Archer was the festival's inaugural artistic director.
