 It was first established in 1986 by the Cain government as a sister festival of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and the Spoleto Festival USA held in Charleston, South Carolina.The festival changed its name from the Spoleto Festival Melbourne to the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts in 1990, became known as Melbourne International Arts Festival from 2003, then was simply referred to as Melbourne Festival before returning to Melbourne International Arts Festival in 2018.It has had a number of high-profile Artistic Directors including Clifford Hocking, Leo Schofield, Robyn Archer, Richard Wherrett, Jonathan Mills and Kristy Edmunds.