With 2025 drawing to a close, we’ve got some great end-of-year offers from our partners. We’re also excited to once again be supporting Limelight’s Artists of the Year poll. Nominations from Limelight subscribers and critics have shaped a field of Australian and international finalists, highlighting the work that resonated most strongly in the nation’s concert halls and on its stages.
Anyone can vote for the finalists in the 2025 Limelight Artists of the Year and help decide which artists stood out most. The good news is that if you vote, you will go into the draw to win one of four Gold Culture Vouchers!
Also, just a quick word about the recent AusArt Day, a new national giving day set up by Creative Australia. ArtsHub writes that it had mixed results. AusArt Day 2025 attracted 323 arts participants – a mix of organisations and individual artists – and raised an impressive $2.26 million from 4,768 individual donors; but a lot of organisations missed out. The article’s author, Jo Pickup, highlights the need for organisations to diversify their revenue streams to stay financially sustainable. That’s something we are 100% behind at Giving Culture. You can read the article here.
If you’d like more information about Giving Culture, contact us or sign up to our monthly emails at givingculture.com.au/contact. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn for other updates and posts on what’s happening at Giving Culture, and in the arts and culture scene in Australia.
Incognito Art Show
There are now fewer than 10 days until Incognito closes all artwork sales for the year. That’s right, they will not sell another artwork after Monday, 1 December.
Incognito has cut the price of art by $70 and frames by $45. That means you can get a framed artwork now for just $130, saving you $115 in total! There’s no time like the present to shop for Christmas presents!
Redeem now for an Incognito Art Show – Gold Voucher or an Incognito Art Show – Silver Voucher for this final offer of the year.
Australian Chamber Orchestra: Carols on the Pier
At ACO on the Pier in Sydney from 18-22 December, Join ACO Families to celebrate the festive season with world-class classical music and all your favourite carols in a magical holiday experience for the whole family.
There are also some fabulous 2026 subscription offers available now from the ACO for Adelaide, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong. An ACO subscription is an invitation to experience wonder, innovation and inspiration throughout the year, and we’re thrilled to share these special offers to the ACO’s 2026 Season with you. Offers valid through to 31 December 2025 or until allocation is exhausted. Find out more here.
You can redeem either an ACO – Gold Voucher or ACO – Silver Voucher to put towards ACO’s Christmas performances or 2026 subscriptions.
Sydney Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival is doing Black Friday deals on Flexipasses and Youth Passes! Don’t miss your final chance before 2026 pricing kicks in on Tuesday, 2 December. Save up to 10% on passes – and receive a free SFF Retro Tote Bag with all Flexipass 30 orders. Plan ahead and lock in big savings for future you, or surprise the film lover in your life with the gift of unmissable cinema.
Use your Giving Culture voucher on a 2026 Flexipass now to take advantage of this Black Friday offer!
The Australian World Orchestra
We all know it’s not the same as being there, but it’s a close second! AWO is very pleased to share that its performance from the Sydney Opera House, 4 September 2025, is now live on ABC Classic on Demand. You can listen online or through the ABC Listen app.
Alexander Briger AO leads the AWO on a marathon performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony n. 4 and Symphony n. 5. The program underscores an inflexion point in Mahler’s musical language: from a composer preoccupied with conveying meaning in a post-Wagnerian world, to a more confident participant in musical historical development.
In Symphony No. 5, with its explicit reference to Beethoven in the opening trumpet solo, Mahler dialogs with the Viennese master. Despite its more conventional aspects, Mahler still up-ends tradition with its opening funeral march and its emotional “Adagietto”. In Symphony No. 4, the last of the Wunderhorn symphonies, Mahler projects a hidden program through the thematic fragmentation of his earlier song “Das himmlische Leben” (“The Heavenly Life”). This poetic vision of heaven through the eyes of a child finally appears in the last movement, sung by German soprano Sarah Traubel.
You can keep an eye on AWO’s upcoming announcements here.
Australian Theatre for Young People
Great news from ATYP, surpassing its $10,000 AusArt Day goal reaching a total of $11,660 raised for the transformation of The Popsy into a new black-box theatre.
The Popsy is designed to give young and emerging artists the space to take creative risks, test bold ideas, and bring their unique stories to life. It will be a home for experimentation and innovation, where the next generation of theatre-makers can explore, fail, grow, and succeed — all within a supportive and professional environment.
Popsy will provide a vital stepping stone for artists just beginning their creative journeys; a place to learn, collaborate, and create the kind of work that challenges, inspires, and moves audiences.
You can continue to support ATYP by choosing the Donate Gold or Donate Silver option, select ‘Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP)’ from our list of partners, and click redeem.