Stuart WoodIn honour of the late Tramlines festival director Sarah Nulty, a new award category was launched by the UK Festival Awards, to celebrate the work and achievements of women in the festival industry.
The 15thannual UK Festival Awards took place at the Troxy in East London on 6 December. The new category, titled the ‘Sarah Nulty Women in Festivals Award’, was established in memory of Nulty, who passed away at the age of 36 just weeks before the festival’s 10th anniversary in Sheffield, following a short illness.
Sarah was also posthumously presented with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Festivals Award.
The awards will be given out for the first time during the 2019 ceremony, and aims to inspire other females wishing to pursue a career in the music and events industry. This was something Sarah Nulty championed during her time not only at Tramlines, but throughout her career.
Michael Baker, awards manager of the Festival Awards, said: “In addition to acknowledging Sarah’s myriad achievements with the presentation of our Outstanding Contribution to Festivals Award, we are also delighted to announce that in 2019 we will launch the Sarah Nulty Women in Festivals Award.
“The accolade is inspired by Sarah’s incredible legacy, aiming to champion the amazing work done by women across all facets of the festival industry.”
Sarah, who was director at Tramlines Festival from 2013 – 2018, was also instrumental in the launch of the festival in 2009, coordinating venues and handling bookings and later working in the commercial department.
Tenacious, innovative and thoroughly unbreakable, Sarah led Tramlines through its toughest and most pivotal times. Her parting gift to Tramlines was to revamp it into a single, greenfield site for its 10th anniversary at the 30,000 capacity Hillsborough Park with headliners including Stereophonics, Noel Gallagher’s High Fying Birds and Craig David.
Tramlines operations director, Timm Cleasby, commented: “Sarah was a real advocate for getting young women into the industry. We were planning to find ways that we could help encourage more young women into music industry roles and I believe that this award will help cement the idea to young women that they can succeed in the festival industry – Sarah being a role model for these women is fantastic.”