Sydney Festival announces major sponsor

Sydney Festival is very pleased and excited to announce Zip Industries as its new Principal Sponsor.

Sydney Festival is very pleased and excited to announce Zip Industries as its new Principal Sponsor.

As the Principal Sponsor of Sydney Festival, Zip Industries is making a substantial investment in the arts. With the Festival expanding its national and international profile, the strength and quality of its relationships with corporate Australia are taking on increasing importance. Sydney Festival and Zip have much in common: both come from modest beginnings and now enjoy international acclaim, and both celebrate their intrinsic Australian-ness.

NSW Minister for the Arts, Virginia Judge MP said: “Partnerships between Government and the private sector are extremely important for the sustenance and vitality of landmark cultural events like Sydney Festival. It is a delight to welcome an engaged and industrious home-grown company like Zip Industries as Principal Sponsor of Australia’s most exciting summer celebration.”

Sydney Festival Chair, Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said: “I welcome Zip Industries becoming the Principal Sponsor of Sydney Festival, particularly as it is an Australian owned business and derives its income from helping people live more sustainably. Zip’s support will help ensure Sydney Festival continues to delight, inspire and challenge us, while celebrating our glorious Sydney summer.”

Zip Industries Executive Chairman, Michael Crouch AO, commented: “I and my colleagues at Zip consider ourselves very fortunate to have had this opportunity for Zip to become Principal Sponsor of Sydney Festival. Zip industries, as does Sydney Festival, enjoys an international reputation and is committed to growing that reputation abroad. We are not only keen to foster interest in Australian products around the world, but also take an active role in fostering interest in Australian culture and Australian cultural events, particularly those featuring young Australians. We hope our role as Principal Sponsor will be of material assistance to Sydney Festival in its quest to grow and attract ever stronger attention within Australia and overseas”.

Zip Industries originated the concept of small on-wall instant boiling water systems in 1980 with the introduction of the Zip Miniboil, “a little white box with a red boiling water tap”. Today, millions of people world wide use Australian made Zip instant boiling water systems at work or at home. More than 30,000 Zip systems are installed in the Sydney CBD alone. The latest Zip innovation, the Zip HydroTap, gives boiling and chilled filtered water instantly from a single kitchen tap, making the kitchen kettle obsolete, saving time and saving energy. Demand is growing year by year, and Zip is now exporting to more than fifty countries.

Sydney Festival Artistic Director Lindy Hume said: “I see our new partnership with Zip Industries as wonderfully fitting – we both seek to make people’s lives better through strong community values and pride in a common narrative. With Zip as our new Principal Sponsor, the Sydney Festival team looks forward with excitement to animating the Zip campaign theme “treat yourself to a new way of life” through a buzzing 2011 Sydney Festival program bursting with new ideas, bold images, wonderful music, fantastic theatre, and life-affirming art-experiences.”

Corporate sponsorship has been, and continues to be, a fundamental part of Sydney Festival’s income stream, contributing more than 30% of the total revenue.

Zip Industries is the only the fifth Principal Sponsor in the Festival’s 35 year history – a testament to the pride and importance the Festival places in establishing long-term relationships with its business partners.