After a brief hiatus, People of Bard is back!
Bard on the Beach relies on an incredible team of staff, Company members, and volunteers to help put on our Festival every summer, and our People of Bard series spotlights just some of the wonderful individuals who make our work possible.
Today, we’re excited to be highlighting Sadie Dufour! Sadie first joined the Bard team in 2023, and has since held various roles in our Operations and Development teams. You may have also seen Sadie around the Festival site this summer, helping to plan and run our various on-site events. Learn more about Sadie and her journey with Bard in our full conversation below!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey with Bard?
I am the Development Events Officer at Bard. I’m originally from Calgary, so Bard wasn’t something that I was super aware of. Our outdoor Shakespeare festival is quite small in comparison, but I saw the position and thought, “What the heck? Just go and apply,” and I’m so glad I did. It’s been such a lovely journey. I started in 2023 as the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator, and moved over to the Operations Events Coordinator role for the 2024 Season. In that off-season, the Development team approached me to do their events, and I’ve been with them since spring of 2025. It’s been great to get to know everybody, and each role has given me more information that leads me into the next one.
You mentioned that you were from Calgary. What brought you to Vancouver?
I’m from Calgary, but I went to school in Edmonton, and then I moved to Victoria to be closer to family. Victoria was fantastic and I lived there for three years, but it was just tough to get a job in the arts. I moved to Vancouver in part for a relationship at the time, but also because of the position at Bard. I actually interviewed for the role while I was still in Victoria, so I did a little Zoom interview and they were like, “When can you start?” And I said, “Well, I’m moving this weekend, so I can start on Monday.”
Can you tell us a bit about what you do as the Development Events Officer?
I plan corporate and sponsorship-related events that are hosted during the Season, as well as the Member appreciation events. In the off-season, I help with writing stewardship reports, and I typically do a lot of work with the Vancouver International Wine Festival and the Bacchanalia Gala. In the summer, it’s just go, go, go. Once the Festival opens, usually I have three or four events each week on site, and it’s great because it’s hard to have a bad time when everyone around you is just drinking wine and eating little canapés and enjoying themselves. This year, I’ve been saying that working on site feels like summer camp. We’re working out of a tent and it’s hot and sweaty, but it’s so much fun.
What is your favourite part about your role at Bard?
I did a theatre degree at the University of Alberta, but after I graduated, I spent a lot of time in restaurants, so this feels like a perfect combination of both things. An event is essentially a play, so I get to use my stage manager experience to manage the set-up and all the moving parts, but then my restaurant and customer service experience really comes into play because if I get a menu and it’s out of budget, I’m able to go, “Okay, well, this is an expensive food item. Let’s get rid of that. Let’s lower the numbers for this.” I really enjoy seeing people come to Bard for the first time for an event, and they’re taking photos of the site and just drinking their wine and chatting. I also love the relationships that I get to have with the staff and with the volunteers at Bard. I got very close to the volunteers when I was the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator, and to just have all of these aunts and grandparents and people that I see all the time is really great. I see these volunteers more than I see my family, so that’s a relationship that’s very special for me.
You mentioned your theatre degree. Can you tell us more about that?
Oh, yeah, I’m a theatre kid. I have a very vivid memory of being seven or eight, and I loved Shrek, so I acted out the entire movie. I was Princess Fiona and the couch was Shrek. I also grew up in the church, so passion plays and nativity plays were always something that I was a part of. The bug just kind of bit me, so I went to theatre school. Originally I wanted to be an actor, but then I had an experience that made realize I wanted to do it because it was fun, and not as a job. I made the pivot into arts management, which I think is a much better fit for me.
Would you ever do it again?
Oh, absolutely. If there’s a little community theatre show, I would love to, but it’s not something I’m itching to get paid for. To do it as a job would be tough for me. Like, holy smokes, the actors at Bard are incredible: four months straight, eight shows a week, with one day off? They’re superstars.
Do you have a favourite memory from your time at Bard?
Last year, we did our Pride Night at the end of June, and it was the first time that we were able to have our drag performers do the pre-show speech on stage and do a little lip sync. Being able to facilitate that was so much fun, and watching everybody having a good time and taking photos and seeing the actors in the wings watching the drag performance was so special.
What were most excited about for the 2026 Season?
I was really looking forward to Antigone. If you go to theatre school, it’s one of the plays that you study, and you know, it’s the Greeks, so I’ve always loved that play. Antigone is such a beautiful production, and in the Douglas Campbell Theatre, it’s so intimate, so you’re in the action and you’re on the journey with them. As far as my role goes, I took on a bit more work in terms of the Member events this year. Doing the Backstage Tours was huge. Our big event is the ADC (Artistic Director’s Circle) Dinner on Stage. There’s a lot of moving parts, but it’s very exciting to be able to plan something for that many people.
Is there anything that you’re been reading, watching, or listening to lately that you’ve been really loving?
I just finished reading All the Little Houses by May Cobb, which is a suburban thriller that’s set in the ‘80s and that’s told from four different perspectives. I’m also a reality TV lover. Recently, I’ve been watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but my comfort watch is Jersey Shore. I’ve also been finishing Hacks, and I think it’s so funny and so well written. I’ve had Noah Kahan’s album on repeat since it came out, and I’ve been listening to a lot of Kacey Musgraves as well. I’m still a folk country fan at heart—there’s a little bit of Alberta that’s still in there.
And finally, when you’re not at Bard, what do you get up to?
Oh, I love to just toodle around. I recently moved to East Van, so I love being able to walk around, go to all the shops, read in a coffee shop, buy my groceries, and get some flowers. I love live music, so I go to concerts when I can. My younger brother is in a punk band, so he’ll invite me to these weird corners of the world in Vancouver and we’ll hang out.
Thanks so much for chatting with us, Sadie!
Keep an eye out on our Bard Blog for more behind-the-scenes content as we close out our 2026 Season—and look ahead to 2027!