Festival Presentations
Gain valuable insights from four emerging and expanding festivals worldwide as they share their strategies for crafting a distinct profile and making impactful artistic decisions to fuel their growth. What decisions drive your festival's success? What unique selling points set you apart, and how do you forge connections with your audience? Find out as we talk to Fire in the Mountains, G! Festival, Sátan, Candelabrum Metal Fest and Kilkim Žaibu festival
Thursday 28. March 14:00 - Room: Central Park
Gisli Sigmundsson // Sátan (IS)
Gisli Sigmundsson is no stranger to the Icelandic metal scene, having been active in bands since the early 90s and having performed and recorded with various bands (incl. Sororicide, Beneath and Bastarður). For the last 15 years or so Gisli has also been involved in organizing metal festivals in Iceland, such as Eistnaflug and Reykjavík Deathfest/Metalfest.
Now Gisli is one of the owners and main organizer of the new Icelandic metalfestival Sátan which will take place in Stykkishólmur in early June 2024 for the first time.
Jeremy Walker // Fire in the Mountains (US)
Jeremy Walker is the owner, co-founder, and festival director for Fire in the Mountains. Fire in the Mountains is a festival focused on connecting to nature and oneself through music, art, adventure, and education, all in a remote wilderness setting. Fire in the Mountains is an immersion-based experience seeking to rekindle one’s inner fire and relationship with the natural world. Fire in the Mountains has taken place in remote locations within the mountains of Wyoming, near Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park since 2015. Jeremy Walker is also the general manager of a music venue in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, called The Mangy Moose.
Fríði Djurhuus // G! Festival (FO)
Fríði Djurhuus of the 54.000 strong Faroe Islands, is the vocalist of Faroese queer vegan shitpunks Joe & The Shitboys, and he’s heavily involved in the DIY Faroese music scene. He does A&R for the local record label, Tutl, is a radio DJ, actual DJ, and he works in promotion, all the way from booking shows and marketing, to working security and selling tickets at the door. If you attend a show on the Faroe Islands, you can assume that he is involved somehow.
At the Inferno Festival, he’ll be representing G! Festival, a festival that turns a small village of 500 people, into a musical paradise with 5.000 ticketpayers. There's one stage on the beach, one on an astroturf playground, one in a barn, and the last one is in a ruin. It's a beautiful place, and a major tourist attraction for the country. The festival started in 2002 and has since been known as the Faroese festival for music lovers. A festival where acts as diverse as Meshuggah, Kris Kristofferson, and Bomfunk MCs can headline without people batting an eye. It’s the only festival in the country that would book an act that you would potentially see at Inferno.
Diana Zalunskyte and Elena Avdeeva // Kilkim Žaibu festival (LT)
Diana is the CEO, business image manager, and KILKIM ŽAIBU festival team member for 10 years now. With a deep-seated passion for contributing to the growth of the largest Baltic folk pagan extreme music festival, Diana is dedicated to her role and its impact on the festival's development.
Elena, based in Norway, serves as the Quality Assurance & EHS Leader for Norway at King Oscar AS. Additionally, she has taken on the role of backstage manager, overseeing bands during the KILKIM ŽAIBU festival for the past 10 years.
Jacobo Córdova // Candelabrum Metal Fest (MX)
Candelabrum Metal Fest was born with the idea of bringing the most interesting bands of the Metal World to Mexico. Many of these bands have never played there or even in Latin America or the US, so after three very successful editions they now have a niche and stand on their own not only in Mexico but also in Latin America and even USA/Canada. This can be seen with official travelers coming all the way from Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, as well as North America only to experience the fest.
The first edition took place in 2022. Last year´s edition, 2023, had a growth of 50% against the first edition. More than 3,500 metalheads assisted per day to the fest. It is also important to mention that the venue, La Velaria de la Feria, is a unique one making it the biggest covered Metal festival in Latin America; more than 8,000 Sq M2 of roof yet still open and in a great comfortable place.
This year will have bands from USA, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Scotland, Finland, England, Austria and Canada, all of this taking place in Sept 7th and 8th. "We have definitely tried to bring something new to Latin America and we are very happy with how it was worked".
Mod: Laetitia Abbenes // Northstar Media / AISAmusic (NL)
Experience as a PR in several branches of the music industry, Laetitia Abbenes has a resume of working with renowned international (metal) festivals such as Dynamo Metal Fest, Eurosonic, Beyond the Gates and record labels, currently head of Marketing and PR at By Norse Music and formerly working at Season of Mist. Last year, she launched her own company; Northstar Media to be able to focus on the projects and artists that fuel her passions the most. Currently, she is working with By Norse Music and AISAmusic, assisting on management and communication for bands such as Enslaved, Kalandra, Wardruna and more, and the festivals Beyond the Gates and Inferno Metal Festival.
