Tramlines Festival Director Sarah Nulty Honored Posthumously At UK Independent Festival Awards

– Sarah Nulty
The fromer director of Tramlines Festival in Sheffield, England, will be honored posthumously at this year’s Independent Festival Awards

The award for Outstanding Contribution at this year’s Independent Festival Awards will go to former Tramlines Festival director Sarah Nulty.

Nulty, who had been directing Tramlines Festival since 2013, passed away in July, aged 36, after a brief illness. 

She will be honored at the Independent Festival Awards 2018, which are traditionally handed out during the Association of Independent Festival’s (AIF) Festival Congress.

This year’s edition of the Festival Congress takes place Nov. 6-7 in Sheffield, the place where Nulty came to study in 1999 and built her career in live entertainment, working at Gatecrasher and Bed nightclub, and going on to manage various venues and live events around the city.

The people that knew her, said in Nulty’s obituary: “Sarah dedicated her whole working career to the Sheffield music industry. After nearly two-decades, this work has led to massive benefits for the city and she has been the driving force of Tramlines for many years.”

AIF CEO Paul Reed said, “it feels fitting, in our first year in Sheffield, to honour Sarah Nulty with the Outstanding Contribution award, not only for her tireless work ethic and incredible achievements with Tramlines but the wider contribution that she made to the independent festival world and what Sarah meant to our community.”

Tramlines operations director Timm Cleasby added, “we are all so proud that Sarah has received this award and never was it more deserved. To be recognised by her peers for all her hard work, drive and determination, is a true honour to her memory, and to the legacy she’s left behind in Tramlines.”

It’s the fifth edition of the Festival Congress and Independent Festival Awards. There are seven awards categories in total, designed to recognize the hard work and success of the most innovative independent events in the industry.

Meltdown Festival in London, for instance, had to cancel this year’s performance of Frightened Rabbit, after the band’s lead singer Scott Hutchison was found dead.

Hutchison’s mental health had been suffering, which is why Meltdown’s promoters decided not to find a substitute band, but instead host a panel on mental health.

For this action, the festival’s organizers will receive The Act of Independence Award during the ceremony on Nov. 6.

“We are incredibly honoured and humbled to receive this award. After hearing the news of Scott Hutchison’s death, instead of leaving the Queen Elizabeth Hall un-programmed and keeping the issue in the dark, we wanted to use the space and the platform of Meltdown festival to bring people together and shine a light on the worryingly common issues of mental health across the music industry,” said Bengi Ünsal, senior contemporary music programmer at Southbank Centre.

He added, “I am grateful to this year’s curator Robert Smith and to the wider Southbank Centre team for making it happen, and to the bravely candid panellists for sharing their experiences.”

Other categories include Unique Festival Arena, New Festival On The Block and Live Act Of The Year.

AIF expects some 400 delegates representing festivals including Glastonbury, Boomtown Fair, Kendal Calling, Shambala, End of the Road and many more, at this year’s Festival Congress. The first conference day takes place at The Crucible Theatre, with the second day hosted at Showroom Cinema in Sheffield.

More than 40 speakers are confirmed, including Secret Cinema founder Fabien Riggall, Shangri-la creative director Kaye Dunnings, author Rob Chapman, marine biologist Dr. Kerry Howell, Snowbombing event manager Joanna Leljevahl and Liverpool Sound City MD Rebecca Ayres.

 

Outstanding Contribution
Sarah Nulty, Tramlines

 

Act of Independence
Meltdown Festival

 

Magical Festival 

El Dorado 

Black Deer

Houghton

Arcadia London

 

Forest Sessions at 2000 Trees

Main Stage at Elrow Town

Abandoned Chapel at Lost Village

The Data Mine at Shambala.

Paradise Heights at Boomtown Fair

 

Dream Wife

Henge

The Blue Planet in Concert with the Halle Orchestra

Shame

Barney Artist 

Smokin’ Hot Tamales.

The Peckish Peacock 

The Lambassadors

Le Bao

Barbeque Dreamz

 

The Red Stars – Kendal Calling

‘Making Waves’ video game – Deer Shed

20th Birthday ‘Nozstalgia’ theme – Nozstock

Promotional videos- Lost Village. 

Renaming the event the ‘Gareth Southgate’ festival – Truck.