Untitled Group’s Pete Sofo, Yours and Owls’ Adam Smith Among New Faces on AFA Board (EXCLUSIVE)

The Australian Festival Association (AFA) board is all set for the next two years, and includes four new faces, The Music Network can exclusively reveal.

Adelle Robinson (managing director, Fuzzy Operations) is named chair, and Jess Ducrou, who stands as an individual member, is appointed deputy chair. Ducrou, co-founder of Splendour in the Grass, recently departed from Secret Sounds Group, the company she formed with Paul Piticco in 2016.

Pete Sofo

AFA’s new board members are Adam Smith (co-founder & director, Yours and Owls), Elise Huntley (owner, Icon Associates), Pete Sofo (director of festivals & major events at Untitled Group), and Ryan Sabet (co-lead of festivals at Live Nation/Secret Sounds Group/Kicks).

Elise Huntley

They join Denis Sheahan (Greenfield Events), Harley Evans (Moshtix), and Jessie Parker (Laneway Festival), while Jacqui Elmas (Frontier Touring) serves as secretary.

The board was elected October 16th during the trade association’s annual general meeting at SXSW Sydney.

Ryan Sabet

The peak body for music festivals launched in December 2018 with a mission to make its members’ events safer for patrons, and “reduce friction” between festival promoters and regulatory bodies by “aligning evidence based practices and decades of combined industry experience with the requirements of government policy.”

More than five years on, its membership includes Cedar Mill Events, CMC Rocks QLD, Good Things, Fuzzy Operations, Bluesfest and many others.

Adam Smith

Led by managing director Mitch Wilson, AFA’s members comprise of stakeholders from multiple sectors, including promoters, producers, cultural organisations, councils and operators.

With music festivals collapsing left and right, the AFA’s function is a critical one. 

“As an association we are stronger together,” Wilson remarked as Bluesfest signed-up as a member of AFA earlier this year, “and as we grow we can be an even stronger advocate for a reducing the regulatory burden and increasing the support for festivals from governments across the country.”

Australian Festival Association board:

Chair
Adelle Robinson (Fuzzy Operations)

Deputy Chair
Jess Ducrou (Individual Member)

Treasurer
Chris Reid

Secretary
Jacqui Elmas (Frontier Touring)

People and Culture
Di Sneddon (City of Port Phillip)

Board Members
Adam Smith (Yours and Owls) (new!)
Denis Sheahan (Greenfield Events)
Elise Huntley (Icon Associates) (new!)
Harley Evans (Moshtix)
Jessie Parker (Laneway Festival)
Pete Sofo (Untitled Group) (new!)
Ryan Sabet (Live Nation / Secret Sounds Group / Kicks (new!)