Join Australian Wooden Boat Festival Director Paul Stephanus for a whirlwind history of the Australian Wooden Boat Festival: its humble beginnings 1994, the people and places that shaped it, key turning points, and how programming, partnerships, and audiences have evolved over time. A look at growth, challenges, and what the next cycle might hold.

Paul is an American-Australian, born in Japan and raised in Singapore, and has lived in the antipodes since 2003. After graduating from the University of Otago, he toured the length and breadth of New Zealand with the Ugly Shakespeare Company, then went on to design and deliver hundreds of corporate team-building events across New Zealand and Australia. He founded Bard Productions, writing, directing and delivering popular Adventure Theatre shows in Wellington, NZ. In Tasmania he played central roles in Ten Days on the Island, Tasmanian Writers Festival, and Festival of Voices, and has led the Australian Wooden Boat Festival since 2020. He lives with his wife and two children in Hobart and sails his John Welsford cruising dinghy Sea Bird whenever the chance arises.