DANCING QUEEN… Hayley Roach landed her dream job when she became Manager of the Trundle ABBA Festival.
As an events specialist she has worked on some of the biggest international events around the world including the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup, and then her dream job popped up.
Hayley Roach moved from England to Parkes in August this year to become Manager of the Trundle ABBA Festival one week after finishing a contract with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
“This job really is my dream. I genuinely love ABBA and I get to listen to their songs all day every day,” she said listing the four countries where she’s seen Björn Again for a total of 28 times already.
She first heard ABBA as a six-year-old. “My dad was in the Royal Air Force and we used to travel wherever he got posted. I remember just being in the backseat of our car driving to Germany, driving to Holland, driving wherever and we’d have cassettes. ABBA was one of those cassettes. I remember just loving it. I always asked for ABBA. You can say it was the soundtrack to my youth, probably the soundtrack to my life now.”
Hayley never got to see ABBA live, but in 1992 she discovered the tribute band Björn Again. “They came to my hometown in Sheffield. To me Björn Again were the next best thing and how I would have imagined the real ABBA to be.”
They put on a show every year and Hayley went for 15 years in a row. “I ran out of friends to take as it was exactly the same show every year, and I ended up just going by myself.”
When Hayley saw the job ad she had no idea where Trundle was, but the word ABBA was what drew her in. And when she discovered it was the only ABBA festival in the world, she definitely wanted the job title on her CV.
“Trundle is the smallest town I’ve ever been to in my life with the widest streets, but the people are so lovely.” Hayley very quickly realised how important the festival was for the town’s economy, and her main objective was to make it the best experience it could be.
“I am blessed to have a job that I’m so passionate about, and as a fan I wanted to make sure this festival celebrates their music and achievements, and as an events manager I wanted to ensure we deliver a successful event.”
Unfortunately, the weather gods decided otherwise, and while Hayley was hugely disappointed the festival had to be cancelled a week out from happening, she loved every minute of the Björn Again show in Parkes and how much everyone else enjoyed it.
And after all those years of following the world’s number one ABBA tribute band around the globe, she got a photo with Björn Again in Parkes.