Sophie Greiner and Bella Filacuridi, co-founders of Dome, had an idea that was genuinely new - Australia's first podcast fan festival. They wanted to take podcasting out of the headphones and into a room, gathering the passionate but digitally isolated communities that had formed quietly around their favourite shows and giving them somewhere to connect in real life.
The result was DomeFest — Australia's first podcast festival, held at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on March 29.
But ideas, no matter how strong, don't self-assemble. That's where we came in.
The Brief:
Dome is a next-generation platform and festival ecosystem built on a simple but powerful observation: listeners of the same podcast tend to share values, interests and a worldview. They're more likely to connect with one another than strangers picked at random (that's how Sophie and Bella met, in fact.) Dome's mission is to transform passive listeners into active communities, with DomeFest acting as the physical embodiment of that idea.
When they approached Layers, their concept was already well-formed. They had talent conversations underway, a venue in mind and a date locked. What they didn't yet have was the infrastructure, experience or team to take it from idea to event.
Having attended Lost Paradise and other Finely Tuned events over the years, they reached out to ask if we'd help them build it.
We said yes.
Under our Finely Tuned events banner, Layers came on as joint production and creative partner, taking ownership of everything that sits between vision and execution.
That meant: brand identity and creative direction, the marketing and paid media campaign, sponsorship procurement and management, ticketing strategy and end-to-end event production on the day itself - from the run of show to performer hospitality, technical and media production to partner activations, patron experience design and bump-in/bump out logistics.
Sophie and Bella brought a deep knowledge of the podcast industry and a genuine connection to the creator community. We brought more than a decade of festival production experience and the calm, systems-level thinking that comes with it. Neither half of that equation works without the other.
The Event:
DomeFest took over both the indoor and outdoor spaces of Sydney's Hordern Pavilion for a single, seamless day of programming thoughtfully designed to avoid any program clashes and ensure guests could see everyone on the bill should they wish.
Four headline podcasts anchored the main indoor stage: Abbie Chatfield's It's A Lot, Hannah Ferguson and Sarah-Jane Adams' Big Small Talk, Jemma Sbeg's Psychology of Your 20s, and Kat Sasso's Momentum. Six additional podcasts performed in between on the outdoor Conversation Corner stage - bite-sized and conversational, a perfect counterpoint to the headline sets.
Outside, the festival atmosphere was full: food and beverage, activations from brand partners Red Bull, WillPowders & Rella and plenty of space to linger, decompress, and - in the spirit of everything DomeFest stood for - actually talk to the stranger next to you.
The event itself sold through to a packed, predominantly Gen Z female crowd - many of whom had attended solo or travelled from interstate. DomeFest turned the Hordern into something that felt less like a festival and more like a reunion between people who hadn't yet met.
Producing a new event concept with no blueprint to follow is where lived experience makes all the difference.
For Sophie and Bella, DomeFest was their first time at the helm of something this scale. Our team's role extended well beyond logistics: we provided mentorship through the stressful inflexion points of a first-time event - from tricky venue negotiations to sponsor conversations, ticketing strategy calls or the thousand small decisions that accumulate in the weeks before doors open.
On the day itself, the production ran smoothly. The audience responded exactly the way DomeFest had always hoped they would.
The White Label Model
DomeFest is a good example of something we're increasingly asked to do at Layers: take a client's concept - one they've developed, believe in and want their name on - and provide everything needed to make it a reality.
The client brings the idea, the brand, the industry relationships and/or the vision. We bring the production capability, the marketing infrastructure, the sponsor strategy and the event expertise to execute it at a level their audience deserves.
You don't need to have run events before; you just need to know what you want to build. Layers can make it happen.
From the on-stage talent:
"DomeFest was a great idea! Well done, I had so much fun and you guys were so easy to work with." — Abbie Chatfield
"It was an awesome experience — the crowd was massive, so loud, so fun! Australia has a massive podcast community. They thrive in this country, and we've never seen an event like this before, especially one that hones in on young Australian female voices." — Hannah Ferguson
"An electric and extraordinarily fun day." — Milo Hartill
From attendees:
"DomeFest was the most incredible day — an energetic room filled with like-minded people."
"It was genuinely inspiring to feel the shared positivity and love for the same passions."
"I truly loved the event. I travelled from Melbourne. I would come again in a heartbeat."
"11/10, no notes. I didn't know what to expect but I loved it."
