BAFA Team

Fiona is the BAFA Director, and a freelance festivals consultant and researcher with a background in festival delivery – at Holmfirth Arts Festival and Harrogate International Festival – and consultancy, working with a range of multi-arts, music and literature festivals across the UK.  She has been involved with BAFA for more than 20 years as a member, board member and consultant, and brings experience of research and consultancy for several other networks, including Europe Jazz Network, Making Music, AOIFE and IAMIC.

Fiona is a passionate advocate for festivals as beautiful and often undervalued tools for creative community development, catalysts for change and ways of imagining alternative futures into being.  BAFA’s first Director, Fiona is based in Yorkshire and when she is not working, she can be found trying to play tennis, enjoying a competitive family game or reading.

To contact Fiona please email [email protected]

Elisa has a rich and varied background that blends music, management and administration, with experience spanning music festivals and ensembles throughout the UK and Europe. She trained as a violinist at the Nicolai Paganini Conservatoire in Genoa, and holds a Master’s in Music and Management from the University of Leeds.

Elisa has worked as Head of Administration and Finance at the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, as Production and Marketing Manager for O/Modernt and has collaborated with a range of other arts organisations, among them the Eutopia Ensemble and the Oxford Chamber Music Festival.

Elisa is deeply committed to equality, diversity and inclusion – values she actively promotes both in her daily life and through her role as a Trustee for Peer Support Plus. From an early age, she has volunteered as an educator and fundraiser, organising musical events in support of social causes. She believes in the power of art to heal, inspire and unite, creating meaningful and lasting impact within local communities.

Email Elisa at [email protected]

Toki is a live and screen events producer and access and inclusion consultant. She is largely preoccupied with audience development, focusing on how marginalised communities can be better served, and has a passion for multi-disciplinary approaches to engagement, working across cinema, music, theatre and immersive tech.

Toki supports arts organisations to achieve their strategic objectives – from audience development planning, to embedding inclusive practice into operations, and producing accessible immersive experiences. She uses consultation and evaluation to work towards meaningful inclusion and dialogues between audiences, practitioners and curators, in the belief that inclusive arts have the power to transform culture for good.

Andy graduated with an Honours Degree in Environmental Science in 1992 and began his career with the Forestry Commission in 1993 as a Ranger in East Anglia. He rose through the ranks to become Chief Ranger, first in East Anglia and then in the Forest of Dean, before relocating to Wales in 2003 as Recreation and Interpretation Advisor for Wales.

In 2006, while continuing part-time with the Forestry Commission, Andy joined Hay Festival as Sustainability Director, following a long voluntary involvement since 1995. At Hay, he led the organisation’s global sustainability agenda, influencing management practices, audience engagement, and international sustainability discourse through curated events and debates.

Alongside his role at Hay, Andy founded EqualState in 2008, a consultancy delivering sustainability projects, cultural sector transformation, advocacy, and event programming and moderation in the UK and internationally.

He took voluntary redundancy from Natural Resources Wales (formerly the Forestry Commission) in 2016, and left Hay Festival in 2025 following organisational restructuring.

Erica Smith is a freelance Executive Director and Senior Producer with over 25 years of experience in the creative industries. She served as the Director of Ports Fest, a prominent annual city-wide arts and cultural festival, for a decade. Her expertise spans programme management and creative production, notably within the UK-wide Creative Partnerships programme, where she played a pivotal role in creativity in education across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

Erica’s expertise in leading change management and developing effective teams enables her to navigate complex organisational transformations. Working seamlessly in both operational and creative environments driving innovation forward.

Erica has devised hundreds of innovative regional & national projects and produced thousands of events, with a particular specialism in mixed media and working with communities that differ from her. Additionally, she is the co-founder of Voice FM radio station in Southampton.