Preston Entrepreneur hosts Gok Wan, US Producers and 800 business owners

By Chocolate PR Ltd

23 Mar 2025

stage flight squad.jpg.jpg

A mum of 3 who grew up on the council estates of Preston is pinching herself as she prepares to host guests from all around the world, at Bolton Stadium, for 2 days of inspirational talks, panel discussions and networking, as she brings together 800 entrepreneurs for UK’s FASTEST growing personal and professional development event, The Big Festoon on 27th and 28th March.

Event producer, International Speaker Coach and Bestselling Author, Dani Wallace, 41, has been growing this event for the past 6 years, when her inaugural event launched in Manchester with just 40 guests.

It grew from here to selling out Manchester United’s event space, which then saw it move to Bolton last year for further expansion.

This is the last year the event will be held at Bolton Stadium before it moves to the AO Arena next year as Dani gets set to welcome thousands of guests.

Recently recognised by Attitude Magazine as one of the top 10 business owners supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, Dani has created The Big Festoon to be an actively inclusive event and celebrates people from all backgrounds and minorities, bringing people together to learn from each other and their lived experiences based on the mantra that ‘we are better together’ and ‘we all do well when we all do well’.

With speakers, who Dani has trained, from across the LGBTQIA+ community, global majority, and neurodivergent communities taking to the stage sharing their knowledge and experiences covering topics from investing to AI, to individuality, to marketing and social media, to wellness and wellbeing, the event’s aim is to educate and inspire, but also to “get people to feel uncomfortable and to question the status quo” she says.

The event is headline sponsored by female investors, Suki Kaur and Collette Thompson of Iconic Foundations - a full circle moment for Collete who undertook her apprenticeship at 16 years old at British Aerospace, just over the road from the stadium in Bolton where the event is taking place. 

It also has global players from LA flying in as sponsors - US Publicist and Producer David T Fagan, and US email marketing giant Keap, alongside high net worth individuals from the UK business scene taking to the stage. Seven figure business owner and founder of Expert Empires Nick James joins ADHD entrepreneur Jessica Lorimer who quit her job at 23 to build a £1million business.

Alongside this knowledge sharing, Dani, a professional singer who’s featured on ITV’s The Voice, will be performing at different points in the day, using powerful songs to also help inspire and energise the 800 strong crowd, with the added entertainment of her now well known and loved fancy dress costumes, which have previously seen her show up as a giant bee, Freddie Mercury and an inflatable dragon…

She said: “What we do at The Big Festoon is like no other event. It’s about community - about- finding your place, and being a part of something.

"We bring people together in a place that feels safe, a place that’s inclusive, warm, and fun, and we explore topics that we don’t always get to talk about.  This helps everyone see things through new perspectives, and makes conversations so rich. I learn so much every single time!”

She added: “We are absolutely thrilled with our special guests this year too. The audience will get to hear from reality star Jaxon Feely, freshly nominated in the LGBTQ Awards for his win on Celebrity Hunted 2024 for increasing LGBTQ+ visibility, and Apprentice star and Forbes 30 under 30 Bianca Miller who will be sharing her entrepreneurial journey -then we get to dance the night away with a DJ set from the one and only Gok Wan, in a chance to unwind after 2 very busy days.”

With accessibility and inclusion at its core the event is recognised as a ‘safe space’ for many minority groups, working with a team of expert consultants on this. From sensory breakout spaces, to pronouns on badges, to captioning the talks and trigger warnings when it comes to sensitive topics, to accessible seating, to venue information being supplied to help reduce overwhelm, and a ‘flight squad’ - a team of volunteers, which includes certified therapists and health and wellness practitioners, there are an abundance of measures that have been put in place to open this event up to people who often feel out of place at traditional events.

The Big Festoon is part of Dani’s mission to be a strong ally to under represented communities , and to bring people together across genders, race, different sexualities and socio demographics and she’s charted its growth with a documentary she premiered at Leicester Square last year to a star studded audience.

Tickets to the March event are sold out but tickets are now available to the Halloween Spectacular, also to be held in Bolton, in October via https://www.iatqb.com/SpookyFestoon.

Latest news

1

College restaurant honoured with top culinary award from prestigious chefs’ guild Karen Lilley Front Of House Lecturer David McKown David Lyon Scholars Manager And Blackburn College Principal Dr Fazal Dad

College restaurant honoured with top culinary award from prestigious chefs’ guild

10 Jun 2025

2

Cosmetic manufacturer lets new unit on Frontier Park, Burnley Badgequo have agreed to let the site on Frontier Park

Cosmetic manufacturer lets new unit on Frontier Park, Burnley

10 Jun 2025

3

SQ Digital celebrates 25 years and enters new era with CEO appointment Kamal Essa

SQ Digital celebrates 25 years and enters new era with CEO appointment

09 Jun 2025

4

New chair appointed to Atlas BFW Management Graham Cowley

New chair appointed to Atlas BFW Management

09 Jun 2025

5

Napthens makes key appointments to further growth strategy of newly appointed managing director Napthens appointments Jayna Mistry, Onyeka-Obedi and Rebecca Rhodes

Napthens makes key appointments to further growth strategy of newly appointed managing director

09 Jun 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
Sub36 Networking
Sub36 Social1200pxandi Lewis
Networking
11 Jun 2025

Sub36 Networking

Mytton Fold Hotel , Blackburn , BB6 8AB

09:30 - 11:00

Lancashire Net Zero Carbon Conference
Net Zero Carbon Social 1200pxtrident 2
Networking
18 Jun 2025

Lancashire Net Zero Carbon Conference

Crow Wood Hotel & Spa Resort, Burnley, BB12 0RT

08:30 - 13:00

LBV123 July/August Launch Event
Lancashire Business View magazine launch
Networking
16 Jul 2025

LBV123 July/August Launch Event

Burnley College Industry Hub, Burnley, BB120AN

08:30 - 10:30

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025
BEC 315 X 315 Px
Networking
25 Sep 2025

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025

Blackpool Football Club, Blackpool, FY1 6HX

08:30 - 13:00

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

RISE - The Academy for Female Leaders and Managers
WENDY BOWERS RISE Illustrstion copy.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
02 Apr 2025 - 08 Oct 2025

RISE - The Academy for Female Leaders and Managers

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Clayton le Moors, BB5 5JR

09:00 - 15:30

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up
LBV Hub Networking
12 Jun 2025 - 12 Jun 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
12 Jun 2025 - 12 Jun 2025

The Business Network Central & East Lancashire

Stanley House, Blackburn, BB2 7NP

11:30 - 14:15

Midnight Oil: The Entrepreneur’s Journey: Scaling Strategies with Brad Waldron
BU-June-Event-BRAD-1.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
18 Jun 2025 - 18 Jun 2025

Midnight Oil: The Entrepreneur’s Journey: Scaling Strategies with Brad Waldron

Blackpool Football Club, Bloomfield Rd, Seasiders Way, Blackpool, FY1 6JJ

08:30 - 11:30

Chamber Business Lunch – June
Chamber Logo1.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
20 Jun 2025 - 20 Jun 2025

Chamber Business Lunch – June

Lancaster House Hotel, Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4GL

11:00 - 13:30

90 day Business Planning Workshop
LBV Event Header.png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
20 Jun 2025 - 20 Jun 2025

90 day Business Planning Workshop

Bolton Arena, Arena Approach, Horwich, BL6 6LB

09:00 - 16:30

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV122 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin