AUSTRALIA (CelebrityAccess) – The Australian Festival Association (AFA), a trade body designed to represent those working across Australia’s thriving festival industry, has today (Dec. 21) officially launched.
Led by festival veterans Jessica Ducrou (Splendour in the Grass, Falls Festival, Download) Matthew Lazarus-Hall (CMC Rocks QLD, ex-Chugg Entertainment), Rod Little (Groovin The Moo, The Plot), Adelle Robinson (Listen Out, Listen In, Field Day, Harbourlife, Curve Ball) and Danny Rogers (St Jerome’s Laneway Festival), the AFA’s mission is to assist its members with delivering “safe and well-run” festivals by creating a space within which to share and shape better practice strategies, and establish “world-leading operating standards” for the industry at large.
A statement announcing the AFA’s launch read: “We are establishing this industry group so that our members can develop informed and unified strategies in response to a range of issues, including event liquor licensing, drug policy, harm minimisation practice, building code compliance, green initiatives, user pays policing, event medical guidelines, and third-party ticket sites.
“Our aims are to make festivals 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. We are also committed to ensuring the ongoing viability of festivals as thriving businesses, significant municipal events and sites of global cultural exchange in the interest of all Australian citizens.”
AFA membership is open to festival owners, operators and managers through to site managers, production managers and bar operators. The organization also welcomes venues and venue groups working alongside the festival industry, and has membership plans for not-for-profit groups working in the festival landscape.
For more information visit: www.australianfestivalassociation.com.
