Tramlines names Nulty stage in honour of late director
The main stage at Sheffield’s Tramlines festival will be renamed ‘Nulty’s Main Stage’ to honour the festival’s late co-founder and director, Sarah Nulty.
Nulty helped to found Tramlines in 2009 and became festival director in 2013. She died aged 36, just three weeks before the festival’s tenth anniversary, following a short illness.
“Sarah was the driving force behind the festival, so it felt completely fitting to rename the main stage in her honour and as a memorial for everything she’s done for us,” comments festival organiser, Danielle Gigg.
“We will continue to raise money for Weston Park Cancer Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care who both helped her so much.”
“Sarah was the driving force behind the festival, so it felt completely fitting to rename the main stage in her honour”
Last year, Tramlines raised £30,000 for the cancer charities through the sale of ‘Be More Nulty’ merchandise. The festival will continue to pay tribute to its co-founder this year through the merchandise, as well as the return of ‘Nulty’s Bar’.
Since her passing, Nulty has received several prizes for her contribution to the industry including an Outstanding Contribution Award from the Association of Independent Festivals and a Civic Award from the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. A memorial plaque was also unveiled on the original site of the Tramlines main stage.
The UK Festival Awards honoured Nulty with an Outstanding Contribution to Festivals Award and created a new category, the ‘Sarah Nulty Women in Festivals Award’.
Tramlines 2019 takes place from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 July. Headliners include Two Door Cinema Club, the Courteeners and Nile Rodgers and Chic. The festival moved to 40,000 capacity Hillsborough Park last year.
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Broadwick, Coda, APE win at UK Festival Awards 2018
Download, Parklife, Latitude, Sziget, Coda Agency and Broadwick Live were among the winners at last night’s UK Festival Awards in London.
The awards ceremony, the 15th, took place at Troxy in Limehouse yesterday (6 December), with more than 700 industry professionals gathering to celebrate excellence in the UK festival business.
Broadwick Live, which is behind festivals including Snowbombing, Field Day, Standon Calling and Boardmasters, was arguably the night’s biggest winner, taking home the award for best promoter, with its events Festival №6 and Kendal Calling also taking home gongs for best hospitality and marketing campaign of the year, respectively.
AEG’s All Points East won best line-up in its first year, while Parklife in Manchester was named best metropolitan festival and Hungary’s Sziget best overseas festival.
Late Tramlines festival boss Sarah Nulty, who died in July, was honoured posthumously with the outstanding contribution to festivals award.
A full list of winners is below:
The innovation award
Shambala
Best hospitality
Festival №6
Best concession
Cheezy Vinyl Bar
Marketing campaign of the year
Kendal Calling
Best festival production
Elrow Town London
Agency of the year
Coda Agency
The brand activation award
Old Mout Cider Kiwi Camp
Line-up of the year
All Points East
Best non-music festival
The National Festival of Making
Best festival for emerging talent
Live at Leeds
Promoter of the year
Broadwick Live
Best family festival
Latitude
The greener festival award
Wood Festival
The grassroots festival award
Barn on the Farm
Best metropolitan festival
Parklife
Best new festival
Timber Festival
Best overseas festival
Sziget
Best small festival
ArcTanGent
Best medium-sized festival
2000trees
Best major festival
Download
The outstanding contribution to festivals award
Sarah Nulty
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Independent Festival Awards 2018 winners revealed
Following research released yesterday showing independent festivals added over £1 billion to the UK economy from 2014 to 2017, the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has revealed the winners of its Independent Festival Awards 2018.
Hosted by Glastonbury Festival’s general counsel, Ben Challis, the awards ceremony took place at 92 Burton Road last night (6 November) following the first day of AIF’s Festival Congress. Winners included Black Deer Festival (new festival on the block), Henge (live act of the year), the Data Mine at Shambala (unique festival arena) and Truck Festival (smart marketing campaign).
In addition, the late director of Sheffield’s Tramlines, Sarah Nulty, was posthumously honoured with the outstanding contribution award. Nulty passed away after a short illness earlier this year, aged 36. Donations were collected on the evening for Weston Park Cancer Charity and Cavendish Cancer Care, which provided care and support for Nulty during her illness.
The act of independence award was handed to Southbank Centre’s Meltdown Festival for replacing Frightened Rabbit’s set at the event with a panel on mental health awareness following the death of singer Scott Hutchison earlier this year.
“The Independent Festival Awards was an outstanding celebration and an emotional evening”
Nominations were put forward to AIF’s 65 member festivals and then determined by a Festival Congress steering group vote.
AIF CEO Paul Reed says: “The Independent Festival Awards was an outstanding celebration and an emotional evening. Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees, who help reaffirm that the independent festival sector is in an incredibly strong place.
“I’m especially grateful to the Tramlines team and the family of Sarah Nulty for working with us to honour her incredible achievements and convey the admiration for Sarah that runs throughout the festival community.”
A full list of winners is available from the Festival Congress website.
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Be More Nulty: Tramlines acts pay tribute to late festival boss
Performers including Craig David, Milburn and Reverend and the Makers honoured late festival director Sarah Nulty at last weekend’s Tramlines, which attracted crowds of 30,000 to Hillsborough Park in Sheffield, UK.
Nulty, who co-founded the festival in 2009, died aged 36 earlier this month. Artists, staff and attendees paid tribute by wearing ‘Be More Nulty’ T-shirts, while several acts spoke during performances of their memories of Nulty.
Sunday headliner Craig David also thanked Nulty after the festival, which ran from Friday 20 to Sunday 22 July, saying she had created an “amazing” event and “brought so many people together”.
https://twitter.com/CraigDavid/status/1021135038111461377
Plans have also been revealed for a permanent memorial to Nulty on Devonshire Green, in Sheffield city centre, facing the original Tramlines site.
Fellow festival founder Timm Cleasby comments: “It’s very important that there is a permanent tribute to Sarah in recognition of everything she put into the city. She was a massive fan and supporter of Sheffield’s creativity and independence. The positioning of the plaque at Devonshire Green is a poignant and fitting tribute.
“Sarah’s vibrancy and energy made her seem larger than life and it’s brilliant that she will be remembered for years to come”
“Sarah’s vibrancy and energy made her seem larger than life and it’s brilliant that she will be remembered for years to come. Hopefully her work will serve to inspire others in the future.”
“It was great to see Sarah come on board with the festival when it was first conceived and develop into the role of director,” adds Richard Eyre, Sheffield City Council’s head of major events. “I was personally inspired by her passion and her vision. She had a fantastic calming influence on everyone and never seemed flustered by the issues that arose in the running of a festival.
“It’s totally fitting that the city pay tribute to Sarah’s work in the local music industry and I look forward to seeing the memorial in place at Devonshire Green.”
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Tramlines festival director Sarah Nulty passes
Sarah Nulty, co-founder and festival director of Tramlines, has passed away following a short illness.
Nulty, who was 36, helped launch Tramlines in 2009, and became festival director in 2013. The UK festival now attracts six-figure crowds annually, with its tenth-anniversary event – its first at new 40,000-capacity site Hillsborough Park, on the outskirts of Sheffield – taking place from 20 to 22 July, with headliners Stereophonics, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Craig David’s TS5.
According to a statement from colleagues, Nulty moved to Sheffield in 1999 as a student, before going on to manage various venues and live events across the city.
“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,” it reads.
“Her tenacity, vision and unbreakable work ethic are the reasons the festival can celebrate its 10th anniversary”
“Her tenacity, vision and unbreakable work ethic are the reasons that the festival can celebrate its tenth anniversary.
“Sarah turned her hand to every aspect of the running the event over the years – she was the life and soul of Tramlines and no job was too small, but no responsibility too great.”
Jon Drape, whose Ground Control Productions company has worked with Tramlines for a number of years, describes Nulty as an “inspiration”. “My thoughts, and everyone else from Ground Control’s who had the absolute pleasure of meeting and working with Sarah, are with her family and friends at this very sad time,” he says. “She was an inspiration, and will be very sorely missed.”
A statement from the Association of Independent Festivals says the team “are devastated by this news. Our thoughts go out to her family and friends.”
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