Meet Adelaide Feast Festival’s New CEO Tish Naughton
Image: Tish Naughton (bottom, right) CEO, Adelaide Feast Festival with the festival team. Image: Supplied
Tish Naughton’s strongest memory of the Feast Festival in Adelaide was dressing up as a vagina for Pride March in 2008.
“I had a cape with a giant V on the back and I had a water pistol and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to being famous,” Naughton told Star Observer.
Feast Festival was central to Tish’s coming out journey and finding her people, and now she wants to recreate that sense of community and home for the next generation. Before starting as Feast CEO earlier this year, Tish had operated small businesses from mortgage broking to dry cleaning franchises and more.
Bigger And Better
After a decade of successful small business management though, she struggled to find any endeavours that pulled at her heartstrings until Feast knocked on her door.
“It’s an opportunity to be a part of something bigger, and also to make Feast bigger and better,” said Tish.
“I don’t think personally from my perspective, that Feast has been as visible and as an entity has been an advocate for our community, which is one thing that I’m really passionate about changing.”
As South Australia’s premier queer arts and culture festival, much of Feast’s events have been confined to November, or Pridevember as it’s often called.
Focus On Queer Arts And Culture
Tish is focusing on bringing queer arts, culture, and advocacy to South Australians for the other 11 months of the year, but it’s not easy.
“When you’re talking about business models and funding models, you can’t just go, ‘Oh, poor me, give me more money,’” she said.
“It’s actually about defining the projects and the funding purpose, and what I’m really interested in is making that sustainable.”
Part of that funding will come from sponsors placing ads in Feast’s larger printed festival guide, which will also provide more space to promote local acts.
Tish also hopes locals will attend more events, with Picnic in the Park – typically Feast’s largest event – moved to the start of the festival this year.
Getting Everyone Together
“It’s getting everyone together and excited and bumping into each other, but now they can go and plan what they’re going to do for the rest of the festival and actually go see a show together.”
Local gay club Mary’s Poppin is also on board to help run Feast’s first LGBTQI pop music festival.
“We’re essentially going to open the festival with this massive weekend, two events back-to-back, which is going to get all sorts of different people from all different backgrounds coming together to celebrate pride and celebrate with each other,” said Tish.
“You 100% want to clear your diary for the 4th and 5th of November, because, yeah, Feast is on a comeback and this is one weekend you don’t want to miss.”
