Venue Manager
Sean Ridley
Sean joined the team in April 2024 with the objective to prepare and transform The Festival Hall from a ‘Run down Hall for Hire’ into a cared for, compliant and well attended, professionally operated community venue. A performer himself, Sean has treaded the boards both locally (at this very venue) and as far away as London’s West End. Having undertaken every role within Theatre (except follow-spot operator!), he comes with a wealth of experience and has almost inadvertently become a specialist in turning venue operations from an ‘afterthought’ into ‘priority’.
Arriving with a wealth of awards for his performances, as well as several award nominations and records broken at his previous venues, in just his first 18 months in charge he has already overseen a transformation from ‘Mostly Empty’ venue into a fully programmed and operational multi-purpose community venue – with 35 programmed events turning into in excess of 80 year on year – and he won’t stop there! Sean only has one objective in mind: To do the same at The Festival Hall, and put the community he loves first, offering it the venue it deserves.
General Manager
Ben Stickler
Ben joined the team in May 2026 coming from a background of working on events of all shapes and sizes, from Glastonbury Festival to small gigs in community halls. He is bringing his wealth of experience into The Festival Hall and its next chapter after becoming an established community venue. He is passionate about all kinds of live performance and about community so looks to bring the two together as much as possible in this role. Ben also started his professional career as a youth worker which instilled in him a value to help young people fulfill their potential and he aims to bring that same attitude into The Festival Hall and how he manages the team.
Buildings & Technical Manager
Vacant
For details on this vacancy, please visit the Vacancies Page.
Duty Managers and Technicians are Casual Staff and therefore working hours vary on a show by show basis.