On the Couch with Edwina Lunn

EDWINA LUNNWho is Edwina Lunn?
I am the Artistic Director of Darwin Festival. A former Melbournite, I’m now pretty much a Darwin local who enjoys everything that this city has to offer – especially what I like to call Darwin’s giddy hybrid of rustic charm and tropical sophistication.

What would you do differently to what you do now?
I am so very proud of what our very small Darwin Festival team achieves each year. I would love to be able to do some of it better, smarter, with a bigger budget… but the great thing about festivals is that every year they change so there’s no point looking back.

I don’t think that was what this question meant.  If you want the answer to your actual question – I used to be a lawyer, so I am already doing my life differently to what I could have still been doing!

Who inspires you and why?
I am constantly inspired by our Territory artistic talent.  This Darwin Festival is themed ‘This Territory Life’  as a tribute to all that does inspire me about living in Darwin and pays tribute to all that is unique and extreme about our top end tropical lives.

What would you do to make a difference in the world?
Oh gahd! These questions are too hard.  If I was a radishing (sic) beauty I’d know how to provide the perfect pageant answer. But I’m not. Honestly if what we do to create festival magic every August in Darwin isn’t already making a difference, then I should stop immediately and seek refuge as a bank teller.

Favourite holiday destination and why?
We Darwinites love a good escape across the seas to Bali – excellent massages, cheap and delicious cocktails and beautiful beachside accommodation. We can’t swim at the beaches here – and it’s such a big tease with all that beautiful aqua blue – so a Bali escape on a Friday Fare Frenzy flight is just the ticket for relaxation and recuperation.

When friends come to town, what attraction would you take then to, and why?
I love to take visitors to the Ski Club for a sunset drink. I’m also a massive fan of Darwin’s many different markets. My favourite would have to be Rapid Creek markets on Sundays – so many Asian vegetables, most of which I don’t even know the names of, not to mention laksa and roti wraps. The perfect antidote for a Sunday morning.

What are you currently reading?
Excel spreadsheets, contracts and publicity schedules. And the NT News – an endless supply of brilliantly comedic headlines.

What are you currently listening to?
The Darwin Festival jukebox – I’m streaming it live on my computer, so many killer sounds from Keyim Ba to Midnight Juggernauts, The Falls and Brow Horn Orchestra, it’s a super soundtrack to the dry season we’re enjoying up here in Darwin.

Happiness is?
My NT Fleet car that I am allocated during Festival – it’s a magical, independent and solitary place that I love.  Happiness shared with other people is a beaming audience under a starry Darwin sky in our Festival Lighthouse or the Amphitheatre.

What does the future hold for you?
I have one more Festival as Artistic Director at DFest and then …. who knows? I love life in Darwin, but 2015 may usher in a new city and a new home….

Edwina Lunn is the Artistic Director of the Darwin Festival which is currently on until 25 August. For more information, visit: www.darwinfestival.org.au for details.

Image: Edwina Lunn