A new festival team has been appointed to bring Worcester’s four brand new festivals to life in 2020.

The three new team members join recently appointed festivals director David Edmunds, taking up the roles of festivals producer, festivals marketing manager and festivals development manager.

David Edmunds, Festival Director said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Rebecca, Steph and Mary to the Severn Arts Festivals team, it’s great to be bringing their collective wealth of knowledge and experiences to the project as we gear up for Light Night, our first festival in January.”

Rebecca Phillips, Festivals Producer comes with experience in the curation, planning and delivery of festivals and outdoor cultural events gathered through her most recent work as Festivals Producer at Birmingham Hippodrome as well as working for Milton Keynes International Festival, Classical Sheffield, York Theatre Royal and BFI’s Film Hub North.

Stephanie Stanesby, Festivals Marketing Manager has several years' experience working in the third sector, a strong marketing and communications background and specialist knowledge in brand management, new technology and digital marketing most recently gained through work with a national youth engagement charity.

Mary Peterson, Festivals Development Manager has studied and worked in television and radio broadcast before joining the world of fundraising with experience of working across all channels and specialist knowledge in community and events fundraising and volunteer management.

Rebecca said: “I’m looking forward to bringing incredible and ambitious events to the city, enriching the existing fantastic cultural offer here and creating inspirational experiences for the people of Worcester.” 

Stephanie commented: “I’m excited about being a part of the new festivals team and using my skills to build our audiences and establish this new series of festivals.”

Mary added: “Like my new colleagues I have a passion for the arts and culture and am really excited to be joining this new team and to be a part of creating some amazing events and experiences.”

The four new festivals are part of The Arches – Worcester project, which is supported by the Department of Culture Media and Sport’s Cultural Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England.

The festivals team are also soon to appoint a graduate producer and will be recruiting to a number of volunteer roles shortly. For more information and recruitment updates please see https://twitter.com/SevernArts  https://www.facebook.com/SevernArts/    https://www.thearchesworcester.co.uk/