7 minute read
ONSTAGE: HAIR FESTIVAL 2023
HAIR FESTIVAL 2023
THE BIGGEST EVENT ON HAIRDRESSING’S CALENDAR IS OFFICIALLY BACK.
Hair Festival, the salon industry’s dedicated two-day event predicated on shopping, learning, competing and connecting with illustrious industry peers, will be back in 2023, and a very limited number of pre-sale tickets are available now.
Building on the highly successful inaugural event in 2022, the event will take place over the June long weekend, taking over Sunday and Monday June 11 and 12 to put everything hair in focus. Hair Festival will be back at Sydney’s Carriageworks as the ideal meeting place of the industry.
The event was created to reclaim the June long weekend for the salon industry, reconnect after too many years spent apart through the pandemic, put competition skills and talents in the spotlight, highlight innovations and shopping opportunities from key brands and inspire with top-tier education.
Major vehicles in these concepts include MarketPlace, the REALTalk series of business and leadership education, the highlyanticipated Wonderland party, Education Sessions that you can choose between to tailor business and artistic hair education to your liking, the Hair Festival live competitions and more!
The MarketPlace remains the sprawling shopping oasis where you can find necessary tools, products and other salon musthaves all on the event floor. With dedicated hubs also prioritising networking spaces, as well as education, product demonstrations and core focuses on business, technology, sustainability and barbering through the stands, MarketPlace needs to be discovered through the long weekend. Imperatively, the space is totally free to register for, truly congregating the industry free of charge.
The MarketPlace will include the new INSTYLE and Styleicons Coffee Hub, becoming the place to meet friends and enjoy coffee, snacks and even some wine. It can also be used for networking and meetings, and it will be a display area for inspiring and bold model looks from the Education Sessions. The Festival Hub will offer an all-new location and your choice of meals, boasting a wide variety of food trucks, coffee vans, sweet temptations and more, across from the MarketPlace. It will also showcase model parades and live hair competitions.
Vendors will also make use of a prime opportunity to meet, connect with and sell to the hub of the industry, which will gain free access to the stands to discover products and innovations. In 2022, this proved a worthwhile opportunity for businesses and brands who were able to shine a light on their launches and tools, and make valuable contacts to evolve their brand.
“If you want to change the direction of your business in two days, then secure a spot at Hair Festival 2023 now,” added Irene Manyk, Base Hair Extensions. “Hair Festival has given our business so many opportunities from new business to game changing industry contacts. If you are a new business or an established business in the hair industry and you are not considering exhibiting at Hair Festival, there is an issue. We can’t wait for 2023.”
Wonderland is another necessary outing. The 2022 party enthralled attendees on the Sunday night, with live installations, entertainment, an array of meal options and food trucks, a 360-degree photobooth and much fun to be had at the open bar. You’ll find us dancing the night away once again at the famous Australian Maritime Museum.
The 2023 REALtalk program will introduce new speakers and panel topics to garner evolving insights into the industry. The four-hour morning program – from 9:30am to 1:30pm on Sunday June 11 – will broach key topics of body language, gestures, stances and facial expressions in communication, which can be utilised to better understand yourself, your clients and your team. It will also highlight the ongoing industry challenge of undervaluing our work. This topic will extend to teaching effective language to change this perception amongst your team and your customers, uplifting the salon industry as a whole.
Panel discussions at REALTalk will delve into salon staff changes, from the insightful minds of leading salon owners, and the future of online payments and cardless commerce, from experts in the field. The panels will also focus on the importance of education, particularly with salon staff, insights into entrepreneurship from industry icons, and evolving business understandings beyond COVID. These tips will include stress relieving methods for a better and healthier life.
In the many rooms that will showcase the event’s famed Education Sessions, an extensive list of brands and educators will take over the two-day summit. Hair Festival will offer up to 23 different Education Sessions with various artistic and business topics that are sure to inspire.
The competition landscape is another exciting Hair Festival opportunity. In 2022, the competitions covered key fields of colour, editorial talent, men’s hair and teamwork, in the titled categories of Splash of Colour, Editorial Glam Slam, Barber Street and Dream Team Collab, respectively. The competitions saw entrants create looks live and parade them on stage. Winning or medalling in the competitions garnered editorial coverage, a trophy-winning moment on stage and a host of prizes from an array of brands, including vouchers, education packages and product and tool packs. The winners also received creative imagery and marketing and social media material, while also being able to advertise the wins to their clients.
“I entered the competition for the opportunity to bring home an award,” shared Editorial Glam Slam winner Paul James Graham of Paul & Paul Salon. “The Hair Festival competitions are a great platform for exposure and showcasing your creativity and winning a trophy goes a long way in the promotion of my career and salon business.”
Whether you’re looking to add to your cart, discover education that will elevate your skills in salon, editorially or in business, show off those skills in a competition or just see – and party with – an array of salon industry friends at the hair event of the year – Hair Festival 2023 is the place for you!
If it will be your first time, you can expect a new and unparalleled experience in industry connection and camaraderie. For returning patrons, it’s the ideal space to reconnect, learn new and important topics across the board, keep up with essential education and product trends and build on this year’s incredible experience.
With pre-sale tickets now on sale, you can gain entry to the full event, or choose the education sectors, entry points and event details that work for you. For Wonderland especially, this once sold-out event will go quickly so book soon! Remember, MarketPlace registration is free so make sure to sign up.
Until June next year, ensure you keep up with Hair Festival on social media across Instagram, Facebook and even Spotify, where new speakers, topics, reveals and competitions will continue to come to light.
We’ll see you in June 2023 – and we can hardly wait!
For more information visit www.hairfestival.com.au
