‘The festivals are my babies’
Curator Tania Harrison decides who will appear on the arts stages at Latitude festival.
‘When I was young, I wanted to be an actress and studied drama alongside Helen Mccrory and Anne-marie Duff, but when the bar I was working in was taken over by a music group, I began working for them on PR, marketing, merchandise and talent booking. Eventually, my boss said I had to decide what I wanted to do, so I created a list of the pros of each job. Being a talent booker had the shortest list, but I thought, “What gets me out of bed every day?” And that was it. Latitude was founded in 2006 and, since the beginning, I’ve led talent booking across the nine arts stages. My job is to have my ear to the ground, listening to what people are saying and what is happening in the world, and then responding to that with a creative idea.
The job is a balancing act between creativity and commercial. Festivals need to be commercially viable, but nurturing new artists is crucial, too. Before each year’s festival is over, we’re already planning for the next year. We start by looking at what’s going on in the world. Current issues, for example the abortion debate in Ireland, spawn ideas. I also felt there
weren’t enough women appearing, so some of my proudest moments have been putting word artist Kate Tempest and comedians, including Aisling Bea and Katherine Ryan, on stage. In 2013, a TV programme about “gay curing” inspired an event focusing on whether gender defines who we are, featuring neuroscientists, charities and experts. The best topics are timely and timeless.
At the festival itself, I’ll go from one stage to the next, overseeing the smooth running of the event. When I’m not working, I see shows and read. I have to force myself to prioritise my “real” life. I don’t have children; the festivals are my babies! Not having children was my choice and I’m happy, but I don’t judge anyone else’s choice.
Being a woman in this industry isn’t always easy; men want to create a legacy for themselves, whereas traditionally women want to make something work as a team – I’ve often acquiesced a point of view or sacrificed my own ego to make an idea work, but it’s great to see more women entering the industry.’
My 2019 trend prediction
I’m determined to found a digital festival to showcase how art, culture, technology and science intersect.