Championing change: Enhancing Black representation

In an important panel session at the 2024 International Festival Forum (IFF), a top group of industry figures discussed the lack of Black representation within the live events business and what could be done to improve the situation.

Hosted by Global Carnivalz CEO Pax Nindi, the panellists included agents Hannah Shogbola of UTA and Primary Talent International’s Dotun Bolaji, plus Ferocious Talent head and Cr8ing Vision co-founder Kwame Kwaten and Chris “Tofu” Macmeikan, renowned DJ and founder of Glastonbury’s Shangri-La.

The session got underway with acknowledgements about the positive changes in the festival industry for Black leadership. “There are more of us now than there were before, and while the number can obviously be raised times 10, it’s still a positive compared to what it was,” said Kwaten, who added that it would be almost impossible to imagine a festival without Black music. “It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever that there isn’t any Black leadership in major festivals across the UK.”

Alongside Nindi, Tofu oversees the Festival and Carnival Lab — a free nine-week course designed to open up the industry for 18 to 35-year-olds with Black, BAME, and PoC backgrounds — and was instrumental in launching Shangri-La at the Somerset extravaganza. “Glastonbury is quite possibly the only festival to actually spend money on diversifying the workforce,” stating that £120,000 has been spent annually on this initiative despite the lack of senior Black representation in the country’s biggest festival.

“Glastonbury is quite possibly the only festival to actually spend money on diversifying the workforce”

“With [his event company] Continental Drifts, we would produce gigs for half a million people a year including the Hackney Carnival, and there’s absolutely nobody in senior production from the Black community,” he lamented, shocking the audience further when he revealed that there are “more senior Black figures in banking than there are in this industry.”

When the discussion veered towards improving representation, UTA’s Bolaji championed the benefits of community outreach. “So often, I don’t think people are aware of the different roles that exist in the industry,” he said. “Education needs to be accessible, especially to younger people who are interested in entering the live events ecosystem. It benefits them and the industry as a whole to be more visible.”

Shogbola agreed: “I think there’s a lot of initiatives that have been done, but I definitely think outreach is really important,” she said. “People and organisations within the live events industry also have a responsibility to educate themselves. There’s so many incredible programmes and initiatives and charities that more needs to be done when it comes to self-education.”

Shogbola’s comments segued into a discourse on what practical steps can be taken to continue enhancing Black leadership in the industry. “We talk to a lot of festival organisers and ask them what’s going on,” explained Tofu. “Issues still remain, but the doors aren’t exactly closed on the topic.”

“The way to get around this gap is to amplify the criticism,” added Kwaten. “Also, one thing Black creators do really well is inventing new forms of music and pushing whatever genre that is quickly forward, so supporting that is vital.”

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