George Avakian’s Festival Delights
George Avakian is the young fearless event organiser behind Rocking the Daisies, and director of Steyn Entertainment. He shares his experience and insight into the lifestyle events sector.
In April this year, Steyn Entertainment acquired Rocking the Daisies and In The City, two popular music festivals on the South African circuit. Rocking the Daisies sees over 20 000 festival-goers through its gates each year, and takes place in Darling in the Western Cape, while In The City takes place over the same weekend and draws up to 10 000 to Johannesburg’s Emmarentia Dam. As Daisies draws ever closer, the Event catches up with Steyn’s youthful director George Avakian to find out how he got into the industry, what we can expect at this year’s event, and where lifestyle experiences are headed in the future.
Let’s start with the basics — tell us briefly how you began organising Daisies, and what goes into planning a festival of this nature from a logistical point of view?
I started in this industry about ten years ago, started in entertainment and performing on stage, then moved into below the line marketing where I would organise branded concerts, furthermore ended up throwing events in Johannesburg which lead to me owning a club in Sandton. Today I head up Steyn Entertainment. We did a few concerts to better understand the public concert/festival circuit. We then took twelve months to plan our next move. We looked at many festival properties and really took a liking to Rocking the Daisies, and here we are. If you know anything about the Steyns, you know anything they get involved in, they do best. They plan on being the best in the world, we plan on taking on the biggest festivals in the world and showing them how it’s really done.
South Africa is a land of music festivals, with quite a few popping up each year, and with many regulars. How do you maintain your strength as one of the leading lifestyle experiences of the year, how do you stay competitive and innovative?
Honestly I will have to give credit to our team who has managed Rocking the Daisies for the past ten years. They have always tried to stay ahead of the game, and with our resources and know how, people are in for quite the treat this year. Truth is, we don’t compete with other festivals, we are just trying to be better than our last show.
How healthy is the lifestyle events sector overall? Are there many opportunities in South Africa particularly in this industry? Is the market saturated, and how has the Rand affected the festival circuit?
It definitely is saturated, although the Rand has grown a bit stronger which definitely allows for the growth of a few more festivals, and allows for a much better international line up, although we as Steyn Entertainment are very focused on building our industry and allowing our artists a platform like no other, for they are our superstars.
What does a typical day in your life look like? What are some of the challenges you face and what’s your ‘secret sauce’ for success?
HaHa! We Joburgers say SAWSSS! We are a small team, everyone has a lot of pressure. Honestly I have to escape every night; I find something that completely gets my mind off everything and I do this by creating music. Once you distance yourself from your day-to-day dealings, you get to a fantastic outside perspective to your day.
Things are crazy, we are up early every day, and the time difference to all these international artists means I start with my calls around 1 am — but please don’t get me wrong, this is what I love doing and wouldn’t be doing anything else.
Tell me about your artist line-up. How does the decision-making and booking process work? Who are you most looking forward to personally on this year’s roster, and why?
The headliners are pretty simple. We give the people what want, and hence it’s so important for everyone to get involved in our socials and questionnaires. In terms of our office, we are a team, so everyone in our office from every department puts their input in and we take careful consideration to all analytics around the artists, how many fans they have, how many albums they sell, etc. We also listen to our people; this has become key in growing the festival.
What are some of the trends in youth events in 2016? What kind of music is the public listening to, and as a live music experience, how do you stay relevant and on point?
Well I live this industry, so it’s a lot easier for me. Hip hop has definitely taken the musical forefront locally as well as globally, although with an event of this magnitude which has such a vast musical offering, it’s important to do your research. We just try to over deliver our customers’ expectations.
What new highlights can attendees expect at Rocking the Daisies this year? Why is 2016 a must-attend event?
HAAA! Where do I begin? Two new stages (making it eleven all together), bigger infrastructure, better production, art pieces, 250 acts, glamping options for those who aren’t accustomed to camping — and of course the majority of the audience is female. LOL.
Where do you see the future of RTD headed in the next decade? What kind of legacy would you like to leave this festival?
WE WILL BE THE BIGGEST/BEST FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD.
All images provided by Steyn Entertainment. This interview first appeared in the Event Issue 9, 2016. Click to read.
