Meredith, who works as a Senior Producer at the Powerhouse, also carefully programmed the festival to ensure that no two acts from Victoria or New South Wales were scheduled for the same day and theatre. The festival was reduced from four weeks to three, with presenting partner Brisbane Powerhouse running fewer rooms than previous years. A festival adaptsĬhanging their dates wasn't the only way BCF adapted their 2021 edition to accommodate for pandemic uncertainty. They have found new ways to be creative and connect with audiences – and have reaped the benefits. Still, for the first two weeks, BCF chuckled along, demonstrating how comedy festivals and performers have needed to change over the last 18 months. ![]() It was a case of history repeating itself, after the festival also canned its final week in 2020. Then, the final week of the festival was cancelled as the south-east of Queensland locked down on July 31. "We felt that there would be more certainty around presenting a festival in July … We moved it hoping that everything would be fine," Meredith explains.Īnd, for a time, everything was fine, with both Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) and Sydney Comedy Festival running for full seasons in March and April respectively, after cancellations in 2020.īut the July lockdowns in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia meant that many acts either postponed or cancelled their BCF shows this year. When Brisbane Comedy Festival (BCF) decided last year to push back their 2021 edition from February to July, it was an attempt to shore themselves up against possible lockdowns and ongoing COVID restrictions. "One day, you'd be fine, the next day, you wouldn't." Over the next week, as South Australia too went into lockdown, all the festival could do was be "adaptable", Meredith says. It was 18 hours after Victoria had gone into lockdown, on the heels of New South Wales and was just the start of the issues that would plague this year's festival, despite the organisers' careful planning. So, at six o'clock he couldn't come," Phoebe Meredith says. "We had an artist arrive, he did the right thing, he got a COVID test and didn't get the result in time. ![]() As the doors were about to open for Brisbane Comedy Festival's Opening Night Gala in July, the festival director was scrambling to find a final artist for the line-up.
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