Darlington Arts Festival

{{Short description|Annual festival in Darlington, Western Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=January 2014}}

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Darlington Arts Festival is a festival held annually in Darlington, Western Australia.

The origins of the festival were in the 1950s, spawned from the relationship between the artists resident in Darlington and the local voluntary community fire brigade.

It has been claimed to be one of the longest lasting community festivals in Perth, Western Australia.Fremantle Arts Review, Nov 1989, p. 3, Profile of WA's longest running festival of the arts

The festival includes an art exhibition in the local historic Darlington Hall and a fair on the adjacent cricket oval. The art exhibition has been the showcase of many new artists over the decades - from Darlington and elsewhere.[https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20021226130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/32932/20021227-0000/darlingtonvillage.org/HTML_Pages/Festival_Programme2002.html ] {{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Some reviewing of the event over time enjoys the foibles of the event.[https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20050612140000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/25381/20050613-0000/www.artseeninwa.com/darlington.html ] {{cbignore|bot=medic}}2002 review

Many posters, promotional items and catalogues reflect the nature of the community, as well as showcasing some more notable artists and their legacies.{{Citation | author1=Darlington Arts Festival | title=Darlington arts festival | publication-date=1900 | publisher=[Western Australia?] [publisher not identified] | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/190053912 | accessdate=7 November 2016 }}{{Citation | title=Darlington Arts Festival | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/189993676 | accessdate=7 November 2016 }}

Committee membership evolves with the community changes, however one of the longest serving members was Sally Herzfeld.[https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20021226130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/32932/20021227-0000/darlingtonvillage.org/HTML_Pages/Arts_Committee_2002.html ] {{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In 2020 a history was published, by the Darlington History Group and written by Trea Wiltshire, editor of the Darlington Review.

{{Citation | author1=Wiltshire, Trea | author2=Darlington History Group, (issuing body.) | title=Arts on the edge : Darlington, the place, the people, the festival | date=5 November 2020 | publication-date=2020 | publisher=Darlington History Group Inc | isbn=978-0-648-95840-6}}

The 2020 text concentrated on notable public figures, artists and writers associated with Darlington over time including:

• William Boissevain
• David Gregson
• Guy Grey-Smith
• George Haynes
• Amy Heap
• Claude Hotchin
• Robert Juniper
• Hal Missingham
• Philippa O'Brien
• Katharine Susannah Prichard
• Mollie Skinner
• Richard Woldendorp