Sophie Akbar

Over 25 Years of Experience Creating and Producing National and International Small to Large Scale Outdoor Events, Spectacles and Cultural and Multidisciplinary Arts Festivals.

Sophie Akbar is an outdoor arts creative producer and consultant. She has over 25 years of experience creating and producing national and international small to large scale outdoor events, spectacles and cultural and multidisciplinary arts festivals.

Between 2000 and 2014 Sophie was producer of Greenwich + Docklands Festivals presenting shows by the world’s leading outdoor theatre companies and collaborating on cross art form commissions. While there she worked closely with the Mayor of London’s team producing globally televised moments such as: the Unveiling of Nelson Mandela’s statue in Parliament Square, the Paralympic Torch Ceremony for Channel 4 and the launch of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. Other cultural festivals she produced for the Mayor of London in Trafalgar Square included Diwali, Eid, Chinese New Year, Africa Day, Liberty (Disability) Arts Festival and the Trafalgar Square Festival.

Between 2004 and 2006 she also produced The London Mela (2004), helped to deliver Kinetika’s Carnival in Kolkata and worked with Artreach on their Three Cities Create and Connect programme, where she commissioned and produced large scale shows presented across the East Midlands.

Before moving to the world of the outdoors Sophie worked in theatre with organisations including Theatre Centre, Kali Theatre, Tara Arts and Waterman’s Arts Centre. She started her life in the arts in Barcelona where she founded A.C.T. theatre company, writing and producing original plays that ran at Barcelona’s Teatreneu before touring across Catalunya.

She currently freelances for Without Walls supporting artists, and is a consultant, mentor, curator and producer for festivals around the country. She has a special interest in making outdoor arts events and programmes inclusive for all communities where engagement in the arts is low. Sophie was born in London (of Indo-Pakistani & Pakistani-Kashmiri origins).