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About

This year the festival will run from 10-14 September 2025, festival goers will experience world-class guitarists coming together to deliver an exciting program of events.

23 07 2022 Yamaha Come Try Sessions Dunstan Playhouse Adelaide Guitar Festival 2022 Photo Credit Claudio Raschella

Adelaide Guitar Festival hosts the world’s guitarhead community in our UNESCO City of Music. We invite lovers, learners and luthiers, soloists and shredders, to bond over our shared passion for music and the guitar.

This one extraordinary instrument can somehow express all that we feel, from country’s stories of sorrow and solace to the deep soul of the blues, the fervour of flamenco and rock ‘n’ roll. And yes, we like it. Our festival is a celebration of connection — spanning genres, generations and cultures. Its players possess a unique power, evoking this majestic spectrum of human experience using just a set of strings, creating the most significant gathering of guitarheads in the Southern Hemisphere.


Who's making the festival

Programming

  • Executive Producer - Sarah Bleby
  • Associate Producer - Aaron Austin-Glen
  • Callan Merrispring – Programming Coordinator
  • Sara Zuidland – Programming Coordinator

Marketing, Sales & Audience Engagement

  • Marketing Lead - Jessica Coppe
  • Marketing Coordinator - Zack Ringrow
  • Publicity Executive - Carolyn Berry
  • Publicity Coordinator - Stephanie Rossetto 
  • Head of Customer Experience - Heather Poole 
  • Head of Patron Services - Kate Hagan 
  • Graphic Designer - Adrian Cowell
  • Digital Content Officer - Gloria-Qing Deng
  • Digital Content Coordinator- Ree Pham
  • Insights & Data Specialist - Heather Haslam
  • Visual Content Officer - Simon Rogers
  • Ticketing Executive - Peter Maddock
  • Ticketing Coordinator - Heather McGinn

Hospitality & Events

  • Business Development and Events Manager - Rebecca Thompson
  • Hospitality Executive - Tiana Sgarbossa
  • Hospitality Coordinator - Alexander Scott
  • Senior Event Sales Executive - Hannah Knot
  • Event Sales Coordinator- Liam Goodwin  

Production

  • Head of Sound - Jane Rossetto 
  • Head of Lighting - Martin Howard
  • Head of Staging - Robert O'Mahony
  • Production Coordinator - Jane Baird 
  • Production Coordinator - Alex Hadden


Adelaide Festival Centre Trustees 

  • The Hon Karlene Maywald (Chair)
  • Bruce Carter AO (Deputy Chair)
  • Michael Abbott AO KC
  • Dr Katherine Tamiko Arguile
  • Alexandrea Cannon OAM
  • Penny Griggs
  • Councillor Phillip Martin
  • Dr Evelyn Yap OAM

Douglas Gautier AM - CEO & Artistic Director

  • Kim Thiel - Executive Assistant to the CEO | Protocol Manager

Steven Woolhouse - Chief Operating & Financial Officer

  • Bernadette Brennan - Manager, WHS & Risk
  • David Cations - Manager, ICT & Cybersecurity
  • Mark Cullen - Manager, Facilities
  • Claire George - Manager, Human Resources
  • Abhishek Shaw - Manager, Finance & Business Improvement
  • Angela Willington - Manager, Legal & Contract Management

Christie Anthoney - Head of External Affairs

Renato Capoccia - Head of Marketing

  • Francesca Belperio - Manager, Publicity & Content Creation
  • Julia George - Manager, Digital & Social

Nathan Luscombe - Head of Production & Technical

  • Martin Howard - Head of Department, Lighting
  • Robert O'Mahony - Head of Department, Staging
  • Jane Rossetto - Head of Department, Sound

Heather Poole - Head of Customer Experience

  • Natale Adam - Manager, Ticketing
  • Kate Hagan - Manager, Patron Services
  • Jeff Owens - Manager, Hospitality

Alex Sinclair - Head of Programming - Commercial

Susannah Sweeney - Head of Programming - Public Purpose

  • Virginia Gay - Artistic Director, Adelaide Cabaret Festival
  • Slava Grigoryan - Artistic Director, Adelaide Guitar Festival
  • Joon-Yee Kwok - Festival Director, OzAsia Festival
  • Georgi Paech - Festival Director, DreamBIG Children's Festival

Abbie Taylor - Director of Philanthropy & Corporate Partnerships

  • Janine Eckert - Manager, Corporate Partnerships
  • Olivia Power - Manager, Philanthropy


Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation Board 

  • Miranda Starke (Chair)
  • Cain Cooke (Deputy Chair)
  • Ray Dahdah
  • Georgina Duckworth
  • Sheryn Foord
  • Jasmin Shahin
  • Lauren Zwaans
  • Legh Davis (Patron)
  • Joan Hardy OAM (Patron)


Partners

Unesco | City of Music


General enquiries

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Getting here
Adelaide Festival Centre Her Majesty's Theatre
North TceHindley StCurrie StWaymouth StFranklin StGrote StGouger StWright StSturt StGilbert StSouth TceRundle MallKing William RdFestival DrKing William StWest TceMorphett StMontefiore RdPultney StBank StLeigh StKintore AveGawler PlGrenfell StPirie StFlinders StWakefield StAngas StCarrington StHalifax StGilles StPitt St