About Umbala Events

Hello,

My name is Ricky and I'm the founder of Umbala events and creator of Umina Beach Markets, Woy Woy Waterfront Markets, Umina Twilight Markets and Alive Plant Based Festival. Umbala Events was created in 2015 with the initiation of Umina Beach Markets. The first 10 years of this company was primarily focussed on outdoor events from markets to festivals. With the completion of my Diploma of Event Managements in 2025 my inspiration & goals are to move into the indoor space; with a new found focus on achieving events within the category of conventions, conferences, exhibitions, fundraising galas and corporate events.

The initial inspiration for my business started in early 2015, where I was inspired by fairtrade products from my home country of South Africa. At first I started by importing colourful beaded jewellery and beaded sculptures. This is where the name Umbala was born, as it means colour in the Zulu language. As a new stallholder I saw a potentially amazing venue for a market in my neighbourhood of Umina Beach. It all started off as an enquiry to our local council on how to start a market. This is where my journey in events began...

Event coordination and management became natural to me and for the first time in my life my organisational skills were used to the best of its ability. My passion is the behind the scenes activities and the synchronization of all aspects of running events. To this day, I pride myself in having a reputation of being organised and efficient.

Umina Beach Markets started in 2015 with 60 stallholders and has grown to 100 stallholders. This event has had over 100 successful events since its inaugural market and has become a favourite for tourists and locals alike.

While markets are the initial inspiration for my events journey, my course in event management created a new found appreciation for the events industry. This course gave me the privilege of working with the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation (SCHF) as a volunteer. Assisting the SCHF in the following events has created a desire to elevate my work in events and to strive for excellence. These events included; Emerald Ball, Grace Gala & the Gold Dinner. In addition to working with the foundation, I had the honour of working with Stand Tall 2025 as a volunteer. This event was an extraordinary achievement of coordination.

The combination of being part of the above organisations has given me a drive and desire to grow. I am excited about the new direction Umbala Events will be headed...

Thank you for reading my story and I hope you enjoy coming to our events.

Kind Regards

Ricky Simoes

Founder of Umbala Events.

Umbala Events acknowledge that the land where our events are held is the traditional land of the Darkinjung people. We pay respect to their elders past, present & future.