Jesse Higgs is stepping away from his role as Festival and Artistic Director of Party In The Paddock after 15 years at the helm of the beloved Tasmanian music festival.
The 36-year-old founded the event in 2012 as a rogue 21st birthday party featuring local musicians and a hay bale stage.
It has since grown from 400 attendees to 14,000 this year.
Higgs will hand over operations to his business partners and co-festival directors of 11 years, Alec McLelland and Ryan Limb.
He plans to focus on international touring with his band and writing a book about his festival experience.
“From 400 people and a hay bale stage in 2012 to 14,000 in 2026 – across the 15 years of grit and magic – this beautiful festival has weathered industry challenges, evolved spectacularly, and continued to defy the odds,” Higgs said.
The festival has become one of Australia’s most recognised regional events, moving from Burns Creek to White Hills and now Quercus Park while maintaining its grassroots community focus.
Higgs said 15 years of living and breathing the festival had taken its toll.
“When you’re artistically directing something, it’s your job to have your full input and attention,” he told Pulse.
“I just realised last year that I’d added as much as I could to this living piece of art.”
The festival will continue under Limb and McLelland’s leadership, with planning for 2027 already underway.
“They’re two beautiful men that have a lot of passion for the Tasmanian culture and industry,” Higgs said.
“This festival has always been bigger than any one person.”
Limb thanked Higgs for his “15 years of literal blood, sweat and tears” and said the festival would continue celebrating its Tasmanian roots and supporting local artists.
‘We look forward to continuing this amazing festival for years to come,” Limb said.
Higgs hopes to have his book ready by the next festival but admits he’s planning to try and find some downtime.
“I’m actually just looking forward to taking six months off to recalibrate and refurbish my nervous system,” he said.
