The Australian Festival Industry Conference (AFIC) has unveiled its 2022 program.

Following a series of postponements over the past two years due to the pandemic, the conference will be held 30 August – 1 September 2022 at Sea World Resort, thanks to the support of major partners Destination Gold Coast and H2 Insurance Solutions.

This year’s program has been expanded to run over two-and-a-half days and will include a number of keynote and informative presentations from industry-leading professionals on a range of timely topics such as event insurance, managing revenue streams, navigating government festival regulations, natural disaster preparedness, leadership in a crisis, accessibility and inclusivity, and the future of streaming, content-on-demand, and more.

It will also feature a panel discussion on COVID-19 site planning and safety, two evening networking events, workshop, trade show, and a Gold Coast famil of local event venues.

Keynote presenter, Thea Jeanes-Cochrane – Cochrane Entertainment co-founder, producer and creative director – will will discuss her ‘post-pandemic vision for the events industry’. Ulrich Schrauth – founder and artistic director behind VRHAM! Festival (the world’s first virtual reality arts festival, held in Germany) – will deliver his keynote covering the future of virtual reality and how to incorporate it into your festival’s creative mix.

Other speakers to join the 2022 line-up include; Bluesfest Group chairman and festival director Peter Noble; Vivid Sydney festival director and Gill Minervini Creative director Gill Minervini; Major Events Gold Coast chief executive officer Jan McCormick; and Brisbane Showgrounds & Royal International Convention Centre general manager operations Luke Pearl.

AFIC founder and event director, Carlina Ericson, said she is proud to welcome the new speakers to the program and to see AFIC come to life later in the year.

“I’m thrilled to see the return of AFIC in 2022, since the event was cancelled in 2020 and again in 2021 due to the pandemic,” Ericson said.

“It’s through the dedicated support of all of our existing speakers and partners that we’ve been able to carry the event over and deliver what we set out to do.

“AFIC is vital for the industry’s strategic and sustainable recovery, as it navigates its way out of prolonged COVID-19 restrictions, lockdowns and cancellations.

“I think everyone is going to be exceptionally impressed by the calibre of speakers at this year’s event and encourage everyone to take a look at this year’s program – it’s going to be a fabulous event!”