Gotobeat has hired former Boardmasters and NASS director of music Mike Lightford as it expands into the festival market.
The live entertainment company, which combines promoters’ experience with AI technology, has named Lightford as its new head of festivals and confirmed details of its first festival programme, set for Beckenham Place Park in July 2027.
Spanning two weekends, the 12,000-cap, multi-genre, six-show series will feature more than 10 artists each day across two stages. Fagship event Unión will pioneer current Spanish and Latin American artists, with further announcements to follow in the coming months.
Lightford will be tasked with growing the commercial, partnership and sponsorship opportunities, and growing the data-driven firm’s offering within the festival space.
"This marks an exciting new chapter for Gotobeat as we launch our dedicated festival division," said Gotobeat founder and CEO Max Busin. "As we continue to grow, expanding into festivals allows us to create even more opportunities and experiences for the artists we work with, while bringing our expertise to an entirely new area of live entertainment.
"We’re also incredibly excited to welcome Mike to the team. His experience and track record in the festival space make him the ideal person to lead this new division, and we’re looking forward to seeing him help shape its future. I’m incredibly proud of the team we’re building at Gotobeat and the ambition and commitment they bring as we continue to grow.”
I’m thrilled to be joining the Gotobeat team at such a pivotal moment for the business
Mike Lightford, Gotobeat
Lightford, who began his career at the Barfly Group before moving into A&R at Warner Music Group, brings more than 20 years’ experience across live music, A&R and brand marketing. He also held roles at Ministry Of Sound and MAMA Group before transitioning into brand marketing.
Gotobeat's festival expansion follows its launch of a new arena tour division in July. The company reported 400% growth in 2025.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the Gotobeat team at such a pivotal moment for the business," said Lightford. "Beckenham Place Park is an amazing site, and we have the opportunity to create something really special as we launch the company’s first festival programme. We’ve got a fantastic line-up coming together that caters to a wide range of music tastes, and I’m very excited to be a part of it.”
From 2018, Lightford worked within Boardmasters and NASS Festivals, where he became a key member of Superstruct’s European booking team. During his tenure, both festivals experienced significant growth, reaching peaks of approximately 30,000 and 55,000 daily attendees respectively, while hosting artists including Sam Fender, RAYE, Stormzy, Liam Gallagher and Jamie XX.
