Metallica stage manager and SafeGuard Barriers director Craig Edwards.
A former shepherd, with a special interest in music and sport, is one of the Waikato finalists at the New Zealand Event Awards 2024.
Craig Edwards, stage manager of Metallica and director at SafeGuard Barriers, has been nominated as the Best Established Industry Professional and for the Best Sustainability Initiative.
Edwards, a former sheep farmer from Taumarunui now living near Te Awamutu, decided to join the event industry in 2009 because he wanted a change.
“I was getting to a point where I wanted my own farm or to become farm manager.”
But life had other plans. Instead, he moved to Australia, where he started “driving a forklift” and setting up stage barriers for a staging company that built rock ’n’ roll stages before making his way into event management.
“I never even owned a laptop before [that] so I taught myself how to use it ... I also had an interest in security, so I went through security training and worked my way up,” Edwards said.
Through this, he was regularly involved with bands, including Guns N’ Roses, all of which eventually led to him becoming stage manager for Metallica.
“I’m organising the 39 production trucks, taking care of the load in/out schedule and setting up the stage ... I make sure all departments have the tools they need to carry out their jobs safely, make sure that the support acts get on and off the stage at the right time, make sure everything runs smoothly - those sort of things.”
He says he usually doesn’t have much to do with the band members themselves, however, that didn’t stop him from getting in trouble with one of the main band members of Guns N’ Roses.
“I was part of the band security team for Guns N’ Roses and when they were playing a show in Malaysia, the venue was a waterpark,” Edwards said.
“It was raining heavily and I was meant to show the band the way to the dressing room and the stage, but through my headset I heard that there was some sort of crowd issue.
“We had tech problems due to the heavy rain, so I went to see what the crowd issue was before the band came on.
“There was a man who was unresponsive, so I tried to resuscitate him. Because of the tech problems, the medics had trouble finding me and I couldn’t leave the guy, so I missed the band arriving backstage,” Edwards said.
“Because I wasn’t there to catch one of the main band members the car got stuck on a bridge they weren’t supposed to cross. This meant the particular band member had to walk an extra 150 metres to the stage in the pouring rain.
“That band member and the band manager wanted me fired until they found out what I was doing and they apologised later after the show.”
In 2018, Edwards, together with business partner Colin West, founded the company SafeGuard Barriers, which provides a product to manage and protect crowds at events.
The SafeGuard crowd crash barriers have now been nominated for the event award in the category Best Sustainability Initiative.
They are made in New Zealand from 93% recycled aluminium, are certified as low-carbon and produced in a factory that runs on hydrogen.
Another special interest of Edwards is boxing, having been involved in the sport since his farming days.
“I played rugby in high school but I like the one-on-one sports, where I haven’t got anyone else to blame for the performance.
“I also like the production factor [of boxing events] with audio, video and different effects.”
Edwards has teamed up with boxing promoter Nigel Elliott to will host an International Charity Fight Night in Hamilton on September 7 under the banner of IronFist Promotions.
“There is lots of [boxing] talent in New Zealand that’s not utilised.”
The event’s fight will include Lani Daniels vs Bolatito Oluwole for the IBF light heavyweight world title and John Parker vs Alivereti Kauyaca for the WBA Oceania cruiserweight title.
Edwards said it was important to him to bring an event of that scale to Hamilton.
“Waikato is obviously close to my heart and Hamilton often misses out on big events.”
In total, there are 69 award-hopefuls - individuals and events - across 17 categories.
Apart from Edwards and SafeGuard Barriers, there are four other finalists from Waikato.
Fieldays is nominated as the Best Business Event, Whitianga Oceans Festival earns recognition as a Best Sustainability Initiative finalist, The Chiefs Rugby Club’s Festival of Rugby is nominated as the Best Sports Event and the Fifa Women’s World Cup is nominated as the Best Major Event.
In 2023, Fieldays celebrated its 55th anniversary and return to its traditional winter dates after the event was held in summer in 2022 due to Covid.
New Zealand National Fieldays Society chief executive Peter Nation said: “Fieldays 2023 showcased an impressive spirit of camaraderie and optimism amid the evolving economic and regulatory landscape that faced the primary sector at the time.
“With ... over 105,000 attendees across four days, many of whom hadn’t visited since 2021, the turnout was truly humbling.”
The Festival of Rugby featured a double-header win for the Gallagher Chiefs against Fijian Drua and Chiefs Manawa against Matatu, as well as New Zealand’s first halftime drone show.
Chiefs Rugby Club chief executive Simon Graafhuis said it was fantastic to be nominated for a “truly unique game-day experience”.
“Our strategy this year has been to continue to diversify and push the boundaries with our entertainment off the back of great on-field performances,” Graafhuis said.
The Fifa Women’s World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand last year, with the New Zealand matches being held in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin.
Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate said the event award nomination for the women’s world cup was fabulous news and well-deserved.
“A great deal of work and passion went into attracting and hosting the cup. The event was a huge success at a local and international level,” Southgate said.
“Hamilton was praised for our top-class facilities, and super-friendly hosting. I am proud of the phenomenal volunteers and hosts who made everyone feel so welcome.”
The annual event awards are run by the New Zealand Events Association to celebrate the innovation, creativity, and resilience of New Zealand’s event industry.
The 2024 awards gala dinner will take place in at the Fly Palmy Arena, Palmerston North on August 27, in conjunction with the Eventing the Future Conference.
The below are only the award categories that feature a nominee from Waikato. In total, there were 17 categories.
Best Major or Mega Event 2024
Best Established Industry Professional 2024
Best Sports Event 2024
Best Business Event 2024
Best Sustainability Initiative 2024
For a full list of all finalists visit the awards website.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.
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Last year's winner, Murray Child, will judge this year's competition.