Cedar Mill Group advises of promotion of three senior executives

Major event consultants and venue developer Cedar Mill Group has announced the promotion of three of its senior executives.

Ewen Craig, Director of Commercial Operations, takes on the Head of Cedar Mill Group role, coming from a 30-year background with promoters Michael Coppel, Paul Dainty, Michael Chugg and Live Nation.

His track records include V-fest and Download festivals, and P!nk, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson tours.

Project Manager David Fortescue becomes Manager of Cedar Mill Events, tapping on his past at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena, TEG Dainty and TEG Live, and as Project Manager for the Beyond The Valley festival and Melbourne Esports Open.

Steve Knuth, who joined the company as Venue Operations Manager, is appointed General Manager of Cedar Mill Consultancy. After leading an award-winning production team at Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles and an event operations team at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena, Knuth collaborated on the re-opening of the Concert Hall at Sydney Opera House.

These role upgrades come as the company widens its list of clients in events, music and tourism whom it consults and project manages for, and the first of its events precincts at Lake Macquarie in NSW set for a late 2025 opening.

As the first stage of the $235 million development, a permanent stage structure has already been erected.

The 72-hectare site devotes 40% (28 hectares) to music and events and will be able to accommodate 30,000 people for 10 to 15 major concerts and events a year. It can also be scaled back to cater for 3,000 to 8,000 for trade shows, Christmas carols, Anzac Day services and food and beverage festivals.

Situated midway to Sydney and Newcastle on the M1 and 400 metres from a railway station, the precinct includes cafes and restaurants, tourist accommodation and Australia’s largest aquatic play park.

Cedar Mill’s second precinct, in NSW’s Hunter Valley wine region site, in Pokolbin, will feature a 22,000-seat amphitheatre while its third amphitheatre, with a 30,000 capacity, is on a 100-acre site on the Maroondah Highway in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.

Image: The current concept for the stage area at Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie. Credit: Cedar Mill Group.