Andrew Walsh

Andrew Hugh Walsh AM is an Australian festival director. He has directed numerous ceremonies and public events.

Poised with a great theatrical sense, Andrew has extensive experience creating, directing and managing large-scale events throughout the world. In an extensive career that commenced in Melbourne in the late 1970s, Andrew has been continuously employed in the arts. He has worked for major performing arts companies, toured with international stars and directed hundreds of productions and events. In 1988 he established Accolade Event Management as a vehicle to produce and manage many and varied project.

He was the technical director for Australian Pavilions at three world expos and has directed Sydney’s Australia Day Spectacular fifteen times and was the inaugural director and producer of Sydney New Year's Eve. He directed the London Millennium Celebrations and in 2001 was Creative Director of the widely acclaimed Centennial Ceremony for Australia’s Centenary of Federation.


In 2003 Andrew was Director of Ceremonies for Rugby World Cup and conceived and directed the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and pre-match anthem segments. He was the Executive Producer of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and Executive producer and Creative Director of the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006. Andrew was invited back to Greece to produce the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Athens 2011 Special Olympic Games.

Andrew also works as a theatrical director and visual artist he has in recent years created works with the Sydney Children’s Choir, Gondwana Voices and the Australia Chamber Orchestra. His artwork has been included in major public Art Projects.

Andrew is an associate of the Graduate School of Management at the University of Technology Sydney and a fellow of the Australian Centre for Event Management. Andrew was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for contribution to Australian society at the beginning of the Millennium and was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2006 Queens Birthday honours.

Experience and Expertise:

• Major Project Leadership • Creative vision and guidance • Event Programming and curation • Production design • Creative and Production team management • Master Budget planning and management • Project and operational management • Stakeholder management • Inspiring leadership • 30 Years experience working in the arts and events industry

Over the past 25 years he has been responsible for some of the world’s most spectacular and memorable events. These include:

White Night Melbourne - Artistic Director Australia Day Spectacular 2012 - Producer/Creative Director Athens 2011 - Special Olympics World Summer Games - Ceremonies Executive Producer Voices of Angles – Sydney Children’s – Director The Dream Festival Melbourne 2008 – Artistic Director Ngailu Boy of the Stars – Gondwana Voices – Director Designer. Arabian Gulf Cup Football Tournament 1994 & 2007 Director of Ceremonies Heritage in Song, Sydney Children’s Choir 2007 Director, Co-Author The Red Tree – Australia Chamber Orchestra / Gondwana Voices, Conception/Design/Director Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 - Executive Producer/Creative Director, Opening and Closing Ceremonies - River Celebrations Athens Olympic Games 2004 - Executive Producer, Opening and Closing Ceremonies Rugby World Cup 2003 - Director of Ceremonies Australia’s Centenary of Federation - Creative Director, Centennial Ceremony London Millennium Celebrations – Project Producer/Event Director Sydney Olympics 2000 - Producer/Creative Director, Sydney Skyline Spectacular Great China Circus – Designer/Director Australia Day Spectacular 1990 – 2004 - Producer/Creative Director Melbourne Moomba River Spectacular 1998 - Producer/Creative Director Sydney New Year's Eve Celebrations 1996 - Producer/Creative Director Sydney Darling Harbour Waterscreen Production “Reef Dreaming” Sydney Olympic Stadium Opening Event - Producer/Creative Darling Harbour Water Parade “Aurora Aquacade” '94 '95 Executive Producer/Creative Director Everland Miraculous Seoul Korea - Creative Director (The World's largest laser waterscreen and special effects show)

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