Festival Manager, Promoter

Role Overview

• Lead the creative and strategic development of By Landmark's Festival Division, establishing brand identity, positioning, and voice across all markets
• Identify and develop new festival formats, markets, and partnership opportunities
• Ensure each festival market has its own distinct positioning and audience strategy
• Partner with the executive team and Pie Lab to align festival initiatives with broader company strategy and brand standards
• Build, hire, and develop the Festival Division team from the ground up
• Establish operational infrastructure, processes, and standards that support growth without sacrificing quality
• Recruit, train, and manage event staff, volunteers, and contracted vendors across all markets
• Develop and manage comprehensive master plans for each festival, including timelines, budgets, logistics, and staffing schedules
• Source, negotiate, and secure vendor agreements with food artisans, wineries, distilleries, breweries, specialty spirits producers, musicians, and experiential partners
• Coordinate venue layout, permitting, licensing, insurance, and local authority requirements across multiple markets
• Oversee setup, execution, and breakdown logistics for all festival days and locations
• Develop contingency plans for weather, crowd flow, and other operational challenges
• Identify, pursue, and secure sponsorship partnerships (tourism boards, culinary associations, spirit and wine guilds, lifestyle media, automotive brands, music platforms, and similar organizations) that align with the festival's identity
• Build a sponsorship strategy and package offerings that grow year over year
• Develop activation concepts that deliver value to partners and enhance the guest experience
• Leverage sponsorship relationships to drive attendance, media coverage, and brand awareness
• Design and execute multi-channel promotional strategies (social media, email, PR, print, digital advertising) alongside the Pie Lab team
• Manage festival brand identity, website content, and consumer-facing communications for each market
• Cultivate relationships with local media, food and lifestyle influencers, and regional press
• Drive ticket sales through targeted campaigns and community/sponsorship partnerships
• Own the Festival Division P&L; build budgets, track expenditures, and report financial performance to leadership
• Analyze ticket sales, attendance, sponsorship performance, and attendee feedback
• Deliver post-event reports with KPIs, lessons learned, and recommendations for future events

Requirements

• 3–5 years of direct experience planning and executing festivals, concerts, or large-scale experiential events in a leadership capacity
• Background or demonstrated knowledge of food and beverage, culinary events, and/or hospitality
• Demonstrated experience building and scaling a team
• Proven track record in event promotion, marketing, and driving measurable growth in ticket sales and audience development
• Experience securing and activating brand sponsorships
• Strong vendor negotiation and contract management skills across diverse vendor categories
• Experience with permitting, licensing, and regulatory compliance for public events, including liquor compliance
• Excellent project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams across multiple markets
• Proficiency with event management software, social media platforms, and email marketing tools
• Availability for significant evening and weekend hours around festival dates

Benefits

• Health insurance
• 401(k)
• Employee discounts
• Direct creative, strategic, and operational support from the executive team and Pie Lab
• Full access to festival programming, including staff tastings, chef events, music, and car shows
• Ground-floor opportunity to build and shape a new Division, team, and brand