Festivals in Focus: 18 & 19 November 2024
We hope you and your team can join us in November for the annual BAFA Conference for Festivals, taking place at Bristol Beacon from 11am on Monday 18 November until 3pm on Tuesday 19 November.
We’re looking forward to discussing the results of our Festivals Mean Business sector-wide research report, Festivals Forward, with you, and to talking about how we can turn the results into positive actions both for festivals and the whole sector.
We’ll have panels, roundtable discussions and workshops, and plenty of time for networking and discussions, as well as opportunities to look around Beacon, formerly Colston Hall, which opened at the end of last year after an ambitious transformation.
The programme is as follows:
Monday 18 November
10.30am Coffee, registration
11am Welcome, BAFA update
11.15am Festivals Forward: Rhiannon Davies of BOP Consulting launches the results of the BAFA commissioned research on our sector, providing key data on scope, scale and activities of arts festivals, kickstarting conversations about current challenges, solutions and opportunities
12pm – 12.50pm Festivals Advocacy: Jon Flinn from DHA Communications leads a workshop on using the Festivals Forward report to raise the profile of your festival amongst the media, funders and stakeholders
12.50pm – 1.40pm Lunch
1.40pm – 1.55pm Provocation: Jenny Harris, Bradford 2025 Relevance is Everything
1.55pm – 2.45pm Urban sustainability: challenges and solutions for city-based festivals Zoe Curtis, Brighton Festival and Dome, Stefan Edwards, Bristol City Council and James Kitto, Cheltenham Festivals
2.45pm – 4pm Everyone’s welcome – Lucy Kerbel of Tonic uses the results from the Festivals Forward report to lead a workshop on inclusion for festivals
4pm Coffee and reflections
4.10pm or 4.30pm Venue tour
5pm Finish
7pm Dinner
Tuesday 19 November
9am Coffee and registration
9.10am Welcome
9.15am Naomi Taylor Excellence, Access and Attitude through the festival lens: This presentation explores the way attitudes to the arts — and specifically festivals —have changed in the past 70 years or so, from the early days of the Arts Council of Great Britain (ACGB) in the post-war years through the major social changes of the 60s and 70s, via the transferring of ACGB powers to the three independent bodies (ACE, ACW and what is now Creative Scotland) in 1994, to today. Where do festivals stand in all of this? How has the change in funding models, both public and private, had an impact on these organisations which were once revered as catalysts for new music, pockets of extraordinarily high standards of activity, and celebrated for bringing music and arts to vast numbers across the UK?
9.40am – 10.30am Building the future: Julie’s Bicycle lead a workshop on the response to the Festivals Forward report, and what resourcing and support the sector needs to build more sustainable festivals
10.30am – 11am Provocation: Thangam Debbonaire The Politics of Partnerships
11am – 11.30am Coffee
11.30am – 12.20pm Leading Change – Kate Hall and Kate Abbey, Bath Arts Collective; David Brownlee. Data Culture Change; Laura Elliot, Belgrade Theatre (Leaders for Culture Change programme alumna). Leading change can be exciting, exhilarating and truly rewarding. But it can also be exhausting, stressful and lonely, even at the best of times. And now is far from the best of times. Join us for a discussion about the challenges of leading festivals, to hear about the impact of the Leaders for Culture Change programme and to explore what tools Festival leaders need to maximise their effectiveness.
12.20pm – 1.05pm Lunch
1.05pm – 1.15pm Provocation: Sho Shibata, Outdoor Arts Building diverse-led organisations
1.15pm – 1.45pm Interview: Chris Johnson, Shambala/Vision 2025 Fast Forward
1.45pm – 2.45pm Roundtables [Leadership; Inclusion; Funding; Sustainability; Literature festivals; Navigating tough times)
2.45pm Conclusion and closing remarks
3pm Finish
Please note that the programme and schedule may be subject to change
Do join us and host of industry professionals for a chance to discuss and reflect upon the 2024 festival year, get inspired, make connections and build the support your team needs for the year ahead.
Tickets are on sale now and as ever, BAFA members enjoy 50% discount on attendance, with reduced tickets for additional team members.
There are reduced rail fares available from London Paddington via this link and special rates for conference hotels are here.
BAFA’s annual conference is a great opportunity to meet key contacts across the UK arts and cultural industries, including festival directors and CEOs, artistic programmers and decision makers from a range of events and festival organisations. BAFA members range from the very largest and longest established arts festivals to smaller, voluntarily run organisations and represent an astonishing breadth of activity. As well as festival and event producers, our membership includes university and associated partners. The BAFA conference is a friendly, relatively intimate event, with a good opportunity to meet delegates face-to-face and talk business in a relaxed and welcoming environment.
Partnership at the 2024 Conference for Festivals starts at just £220 – please see more details here or contact a member of the BAFA team to talk about how we can work with you. We would love you to join us in Bristol!
Our long-time partner Graham Sykes Insurance is the headline sponsor for this year’s conference!
Graham Sykes Insurance work with BAFA members across the UK.
At Graham Sykes, they take membership of clubs and associations very seriously, and like to reward those who join and provide support for the associations you belong to. To help with this they are offering all BAFA members 20% discount off their festival insurance arranged through Graham Sykes Insurance.
With decades of experience in the event industry, Graham Sykes currently support thousands of businesses and individuals across the UK that make their living in one way or another from festivals just like yours. As part of our team, they have joined us in one common goal, to make events and festivals a continually growing success.
At Graham Sykes, they take you and your insurance needs to heart!
Graham Sykes Ltd is Authorised & Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority – FRN 300310
Being a member of BAFA offers access to the UK’s leading arts festivals, and an invaluable opportunity to build a strong network of professional contacts across the breadth of the festivals sector.
Our members range from volunteer-run organisations to large, well-established festivals, and we also have special memberships available for universities and associate members.
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