A festival powered by people. Meet the people behind Freedom Festival Arts Trust.

Our Team

We bring thousands of people together through our annual festival and year-round artistic and creative programme of performances, installations, talent development programmes and targeted participatory work to excite, inspire, challenge, empower and provoke.

Not only do we produce Hull's famous Freedom Festival, we also support artists year-round, work within UK and international networks, and produce other staple work and projects in Hull's cultural calendar.

We celebrate Hull’s independent spirit and extraordinary heritage working closely with artists, creative organisations, the private sector, academic partners, third-sector organisations, families, individuals, and community groups to deliver year-round creative activity and a world-class annual arts festival.

We believe it's important to generate and nurture new ideas, so we are passionate about supporting artists to develop ideas and reinvent art forms. We believe in supporting people from all walks of life to explore the arts as we believe that the arts are central to the well-being of our society.

Our Team

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Artistic Director and CEO

Mikey Martins

Mikey has worked in the arts festival industry for more than two decades, across the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia. He has worked with numerous high-profile national and international cultural events, festivals and organisations, including the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Sydney Festival, The Out There Festival, Just for Laughs - Montreal, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Auckland International Arts Festival, Winchester Hat Fair, Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and as a Creative Producer for Outdoor Arts and Contemporary Circus with Theatre Bristol. Mikey is on the steering group for the IN SITU network, is the chair of Cultural Collisions Hull and is also a trustee of Welcome House – a support organisation for refugees and asylum seekers in Hull. Mikey is passionate about how art in public space, arts festivals that integrate with communities, multi-disciplinary artists and place, can be truly powerful change-making and transformative forces for the city (or town) where they operate. Mikey believes great things can happen when working truly in collaboration, across sectors, across borders and across continents. Art, creativity and artistic practise can change often negative narratives so prevalent in our modern-day society, but not so easily on their own. Mikey moved to Hull after taking up his appointment as CEO and Artistic Director with Freedom Festival Arts Trust in 2015.

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Finance Manager

Vanessa Nolan

Vanessa is our Finance Manager managing everything finance-related for the Festival. Vanessa graduated in law and then switched to studying accountancy, has worked in accounts teams for 30+ years and has a wealth of industry experience (from audit, power, distribution & logistics, construction, and education) culminating in the creative arts and the Freedom Festival.  Vanessa’s a local Hull girl and was a City of Culture volunteer in 2017 and was part of Freedom Festival’s Freedom Chorus – dressed in white, singing in a flower bed.

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General Manager

Jo Hawkes

Jo is very excited to be back in Hull, after living here many moons ago. She’s worked in theatres for over a decade and was the Theatre General Manager of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, before moving with her family back up north. Jo is delighted to be working at Freedom Festival Arts Trust and is passionate about the work that we bring to the city.

Business Development Manager

Kathryn Biggin

Kathryn is our Business Development Manager and is responsible for building and maintaining the relationships we have with our local partners. Kathryn graduated with a degree in Theatre and Media studies and has spent most of her career in London working in business development and events covering unique venues, like the Museum of London, before moving agency-side, working on international event programmes. Following a move to Hull in 2017, Kathryn spent five years working as a charity manager, which has given her a great understanding of the third sector, as well as the local business and grant-giving landscape. Kathryn has always loved being client-facing and loves building relationships with partners, and is so excited to be working for FFAT.

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Administration Manager & Digital Content Coordinator

Holly Philo

As Admin Manager, Holly manages the office and supports finance and HR. After completing her degree in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Hull, she began her career on Hull City Council’s Events Team, working closely with VHEY and the Hull 2017 City of Culture team. She’s supported delivery of events from Spencer Tunick’s Sea of Hull and Gratte Ciel’s Place Des Anges, to the 2016 REYTA awards and Hull Fair. Holly also now coordinates the organisation's digital communications, which includes everything from social media to our monthly newsletters.

Freelance Design Lead

Jessy Zschorn

Jessy is the creative behind Freedom Festival’s design and visuals. Jessy has mastery in a diverse range of visual communication skills including illustration, photography, design, and web development, and after founding her own design agency and operating as a freelance designer, she has an established reputation for her incredible work. She is a people person who enjoys immersing herself in new cultures and is often out on solo adventures, seeking to expand her knowledge and understanding of the world. She's a powerhouse!

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TG Events Ltd

TG Events are the brilliant production team backstage of the events we do. From staging to sound to safety, they do it all. Their team consists of Tim Garbutt, Adam Long, Danny Owen and Danny O'Shea as well as other great suppliers they bring in.

Our Board

Chair

Kate Denby

Kate Denby has been Executive Director and joint CEO of Northern Stage in Newcastle since 2015, where she leads the strategic, financial and operational development of the company. Under her tenure the company increased audiences by 35% in four years, expanded acclaimed programmes of work with young people and independent theatre makers in the region, and established embedded partnerships in community settings. Kate’s background is in theatre producing and management. She was previously Executive Producer at the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill and Producer/Head of Programming & Talent Development at Hull Truck Theatre. She has led theatre tours to Europe, the USA and Southern Africa, and was involved in developing and delivering Hull’s successful bid for UK City of Culture 2017. Kate has been a member of the Freedom Festival Arts Trust Board since 2015, and became Chair in 2019.

Trustee

David Keel

Hull’s Digital Awards Lifetime Contribution Winner, David Keel was the founder of Hull based Trident (Brand Management and CGI). David is a founder of the C4DI (Centre for Digital Innovation) and uses his skills and experience in growing tech businesses to mentor C4DI start-ups and his connections with large brand owners to assist in C4DI corporate membership programmes. David has served as a Governor of Hull’s Ron Dearing UTC, was a trustee of the Hull2017 Enterprises Board and a proud City of Culture volunteer.

Trustee

Trish Dalby

A Hull girl through and through, Trish retired as Deputy Chief Executive from Hull City Council in 2019. Since retirement, Trish has continued her commitment to the City in a number of voluntary roles, including taking on the Chair of Generation Hull in 2021, the city’s Local Cultural Education Partnership. Generation Hull has a mission to support schools and creative organisations in Hull to work together making sure that our children and young people get the best creative experiences possible and access to the wonderful cultural opportunities in our city.

Trustee

Samantha Friend

A business development specialist, Samantha has a wealth of strategic experience working in regeneration and economic development for local government, private sector and not for profit organisations, including launching the £200m Hull St Stephens development and managing high value projects at the University of Hull. Skilled in bringing together partners to achieve a common purpose, she has managed many large-scale events like Bizweek and created development strategies, including for the Fruit Market in Hull. Samantha now provides her multi-level experience to businesses as a freelance Management & Marketing Consultant.

Trustee

Neil Porteus

Neil is a chartered accountant who was instrumental in the development of The Deep, an aquarium-based visitor attraction in Hull which is governed by a registered charity. In a book on the project, Neil was described as having had “as big an impact on the project as anyone”. Since opening in 2002, The Deep has welcomed almost 9m visitors through its doors, having proven itself as the most successful Millennium Commission lottery-funded project in the country. Neil came to Hull in the late 1980’s to study Pure Mathematics at the University of Hull and then studied at the Leeds Business School of Leeds Metropolitan University to become a Chartered Public Finance Accountant. Having taken the City to his heart, Neil decided to make his life in Hull after graduating, joining Hull City Council in the early 1990’s and was promoted rapidly through the organisation to the role of Group Technical Accountant, being responsible for the treasury management and capital programme of the Council. Within this role, Neil had the lead financial role in securing over £50m of funding for the establishment of The Deep and remains its Finance Director to this day. Neil is passionate about improving the life chances of the young people of Hull, having been a school/college governor for more than 20 years. Neil is currently Chair of the Constellation Trust, a £70m Hull-based Multi-Academy Trust including the secondary schools Sirius Academy West and Sirius Academy North, along with Rise Academy and seven primary schools. Neil is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy, a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics & its Applications, a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians and a member of European Mechanics Society.

Trustee

Garry Taylor

As Assistant Director - Major Projects, Culture & Place at Hull City Council, Garry manages the city’s £400 million public/private capital investment programme, including highways, cultural venues, leisure and retail developments, public spaces, parks and schools. As Invest Hull’s visitor economy lead, he oversees the city centre product, branding and inward investment along with tourism, conferences, events and delivery of the city’s cultural strategy. Garry’s team previously delivered the regeneration of the city centre and its cultural venues in the lead up to UK City of Culture 2017 and the £450 million Building Schools for the Future programme. Future projects include continued investment in leisure facilities and parks, retail and housing, highways and cycle routes, school expansions and the creation of a major heritage maritime attraction.

Trustee

Councillor Rob Pritchard

Rob feels honoured to live in Hull and has had a varied career, from starting out working in retail, working as a nurse, bank clerk, chief officer of several voluntary and community organisations, and now a City Councillor. He has a passion for his city and loves being involved in making it a better place to live. He loves the arts in all its forms, and feels privileged to be the Portfolio Holder for Culture, where he gets to meet amazing people from around the city and beyond. Rob believes he wouldn’t have achieved half as much as he has without his amazing wife Linda, who he has been with for over 30 years.

Trustee

Sally Christopher

Sally is passionate about festivals, live events and the Arts, with a particular knowledge of festivals and over twenty years of experience and industry knowledge, including working on Glastonbury Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Sally is also a fan of large-scale events and mass participation projects, having worked as part of the Big Dance 2010/12, the Ceremonies teams delivering London 2012 and Rugby World Cup 2015. Sally has a variety of roles under her belt along with a Masters in Arts Management and Cultural Policy and Undergraduate Degree in English Literature and Drama.