The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has announced details of this year’s Festival Congress, which will take place in Cardiff from November 1-2.
The event, at Wales Millennium Centre, will host more than 400 festival delegates and will also include the Festival Congress Awards, which take place at The Depot Warehouse venue, with a street food festival banquet and Rob da Bank’s Purple Rave tribute to Prince.
Speakers at the Festival Congress will include Isle Of Wight Festival promoter John Giddings (pictured), Leefest’s Lee Denny and Brixton Academy founder Simon Parkes.
“Festival Congress is the one time in the year when independent festival professionals and the wider industry can get together and share their experiences so we have started putting together a fantastic programme of events to maximise our time together,” said AIF general manager Paul Reed.
Elsewhere, Entertainment Intelligence director Sammy Andrews will talk about the connections between streaming and ticketing and the potential of Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for the live industry. There will also be a discussion led by Kilimanjaro Live’s director of operations Zac Fox, exploring gender issues in the industry and possible solutions alongside a Festival Frontiers panel, which will reflect on the 2016 season.
Delegates can also take part in a series of Lucha Libre breakout sessions on topics ranging from city festivals to festival finance. More events and speakers will be announced in the near future.
Each year Festival Congress adopts a different theme and this year’s will be Day Of The Dead, with production and props from House Of Bestival.
Tickets are on sale now, priced at £100 for AIF members, £135 to Friends of AIF and £185 general sale exclusively through headline event sponsor The TicketSellers.
