Sandy Verschoor

‘I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t, you know, captivated by something in a festival or other,’ Verschoor says as she sits perched forward on the deep chairs in Lady Esther Jacobs Room, in the Adelaide town hall.

The Lord Mayor, Sandy Verschoor is more than an advocate for the arts in the city of Adelaide. She has been instrumental in the growth of Adelaide as a festival city during her time not only in local government, but also as a CEO of Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Fringe, and Associate Director for The Company for Arts Projects.

How did it all start?

‘So we grew up in a house that was full of books and full of music,’ said Verschoor. ‘My mother loved dancing, loved film, and Dad was a little bit more into the intellectual side, so conversations with Dad were about finance and politics and, you know, theology.’

Her mother is a nurse and her father an engineer, both of them immigrants, both with their own languages, cultures and interests to inject into their then, young household.

“We have a standing joke in my family, because I was the only ‘Australian’. Sort of I was with all these ‘foreigners’. So Dad was from the Netherlands. Mum was from Sri Lanka and she was a Dutch Burgher, so her heritage was Dutch, French, Portuguese and Sri Lankan.’

Her mother who was heavily into pop culture would regularly take them to theatre performances which led to Sandy developing her own love for the arts.

As an adult, Sandy would frequently take leave for writers week and attempt to attend as many festival events as she could throughout Adelaide’s festival season.

‘Look, it is actually one of the reasons I love Adelaide,’ said Sandy

It was while Verschoor was working in marketing at a radio station that she was offered her dream job as Marketing Manager for the Adelaide Festival. From there, Verschoor was swept up in magical world curating experiences in our city.

Describing festival culture as addictive, with the 4 – 5 months of working 15-18 hour days and team bonds that are unique to the seasonal staff, Verschoor embedded herself into the stories of most of Adelaide’s festivals.

As a Churchill Fellow which took her across the globe to work with and learn from the Avignon Fringe and the Edinburgh Fringe – along with Adelaide Fringe are among the most renowned Fringe festivals in the world.

But Vershoor still remembers the first ever Adelaide festival she worked on with director Barrie Kosky and speaks of his vision with great admiration.

‘He was culturally so aware of everything that was going on globally, and presented what I still think is one of the most extraordinary programs I’ve ever seen.’

When Verschoor began to lead festivals herself, she found that the only way to truly serve artists and society was through through keeping both ears and eyes open to everything happening around her and listening to the voices inside and outside of the room.

‘Just because you’re the artistic director doesn’t mean that you are the only person to have good ideas. And so the ideas can come from anyone,’ said Verschoor before describing how she would often ask people who weren’t her team for thoughts on her ideas.

This is also how many innovations became part of our most loved festivals today.

Like Honey Pot in the Adelaide Fringe which acts as a marketplace for Artists and Producers to connect. Or WOMADelaide’s Taste of the World, an event where people share food along with the stories that are connected to those foods. This idea came from a simple conversation and an observation during Verschoor’s five year working at WOMAD.

‘Somebody was making something and they brought it in to share with us, and it was food that I’d never tasted before and they told the story of how their mother used to make this. And so I suggested and created this thing called Taste of the World,’ said Verschoor.

Sometimes it’s spontaneous and sometimes it’s careful planning and too much research.

When Verschoor found herself directing the Adelaide Festival of ideas and exploring tech junkies to sleep experts surrounded by colour-coded sticky notes, perhaps a little outside of her comfort zone in the performing arts world, she found excitement and used the same recipe as she had with every other role.

‘Whether it’s retail or advertising or festivals, you are really trying to curate an experience. An exceptional experience.

A lot of the work that I’ve done with the city, both as a general manager and as a counsellor and now Lord Mayor, is really about thinking about what is the experience you want people to have of your city.’

Over the years, Verschoor has seen artists who start at Adelaide Fringe and have since traveled the world and grown as people and as creators.

Perhaps that’s the greatest of many rewards.

The sleepless nights, the anxiety, the seasonal rush of adrenaline followed by inertia and tears as teams that have had no choice but to rely on each other for months say goodbye once again.

It’s all worth it to be part of a community that creates spaces for people to see and be seen, to hear and be heard, to feel and be felt.

‘That’s what it is. People following their heart. You don’t work in the arts because of what you earn. You work in the arts because you love what you do.’

 
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This article is part of the Festival City Stories series, a collection of reflections about Adelaide made by the people who make this a festival place. The project was funded through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Arts South Australia, Arts Recovery Fund, and delivered in partnership with the State Library of South Australia. 

Written by: Manal Younus

Photography by: Chi Catalano