The Festival Hub at Hair Festival 2024, held over June 30 and July 1 at Sydney’s ICC, had a wealth of facets to inspire. Education took over the stands with demonstrations by brand leaders, new product innovations delighted attendees who took advantage of Hair Festival deals, patrons spun wheels and took part in claw machines to take home free products, and there was food, drinks, INSTYLE magazines and even a Spin Pod to truly bring the titular Festival to life.

Within this Hub, THE STAGE. was an all-new Hair Festival addition, offering bite-sized education that built on business insights, brand information and bold techniques showcased in the Education Sessions rooms or on the stands, as sponsored by Artègo and Pivot Point. Best of all, the whole Festival Hub, including THE STAGE. was entirely free to enter.

With MCs across the weekend including Paula Hibbard, Benni Tognini, Peter Elchaar and INSTYLE’s own Jo Cowan, the stage made way for inspiring education, live demonstrations, model displays and even the Hair Festival Competitions on Monday morning, ensuring you could stay enthralled while putting your feet up.

Brands such as Artègo, WAHL, Danger Jones, Lakmè, Shui Scissors, Stellar Hair, Balmain Hair Accessories, Heiniger, Maryanne Kourouche Training, Hairco and Floractive Sydney showcased product launches, live service demonstrations, styling inspiration and more, while allowing guests to meet ambassadors and educators, across categories such as men’s hair, styling, colour, cut, textured hair and beyond. Pivot Point taught five fringes in five minutes, as well as showing off collection cuts, and Russian Doll’s feature hair chair – yes, a chair made entirely of hair – even made it to the stage in their keratin-focused session.

Business know-how came courtesy of companies like Shortcuts, Angela Rose of Indie Hair Academy, the Indie Empowerment Summit, presented by Salon Lane, and The Salon Dr, who covered topics such as education, data-driven trends, the power of independent hair possibilities and consultations.
“Presenting on THE STAGE. was awesome,” said Jo Burgess of Shortcuts. “It was busy, people were around and interested in learning all sorts of different things, so it was great. We’ve had some amazing, positive conversations at the stand as well over the weekend, and lots of follow ups, so it’s been good.”

In philanthropy and environmentalism, INSTYLE and Styleicons and Hair Festival partners Sustainable Salons, Waste Management Systems and Greener discussed hair industry opportunities achievable through sustainability. Look Good Feel Better and INSTYLE and Styleicons explained the pivotal topic of cancer awareness in the hair, dermal, cosmetic, beauty and wellness industries, and what attendees need to know as service providers.

THE STAGE. was buzzing for the Hair Festival competitions, sponsored by O&M, where audiences watched live work, on-stage reveals and awards being handed out in new, elevated and updated categories across men’s hair, women’s style, colour and bridal for emerging and established hairdressers. This brought the live competition atmosphere to life at the iconic event, crowning the Hair Festival Champions for men’s, women’s and emerging talent, in the very heart of Hair Festival.

Free, bold, versatile and always interesting, THE STAGE. added to Hair Festival 2024, on top of the Wonderland party, REALtalk Business Forum, Education Sessions and the Hair Festival Hub and Competitions, ensuring the bona fide weekend of hair didn’t miss a beat.

For more information visit www.hairfestival.com.au

Read Full Post