Transcript Slide 1

The economic and social impact of
festivals: a case study from the East
Midlands, England and its implications
for festivals and regional development
in Europe
Christopher Maughan and Dr Franco Bianchini
Faculty of Humanities
De Montfort University
Leicester
Aims of presentation
To use case study from East Midlands, England to:
Discuss methodological issues concerning the
calculation of the economic and social impact of
festivals
Raise questions about the contribution of festivals
to regional development in Europe, and how to
maximise this
Identify questions for future studies on festivals
and regional development in other European
countries
The 11 festivals included in the research
February
Leicester Comedy Festival
June
Art on the Map (Lincolnshire Open Studios)
Newark on Water Festival
Tideswell Well Dressing
July
Buxton Fringe Festival
Buxton Festival
Leicester Belgrave Mela
Derby Caribbean Carnival
September
Northamptonshire Open Studios and Exhibition
Wirksworth Festival (and art and architecture trails)
October
Now Festival, Nottingham
Income and expenditure data for
selected festivals
AotM
BF
LCF
Newark
NOSE
Tideswell
Income
16.8
549
58
156
12
0.6
Expenditure
16.7
548
49
162
14
0.3
(figures are in
000s)
The Research Methodology
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review of literature on economic and social impact of the arts
design of audience questionnaires
4,704 questionnaires completed by audience members
an estimated 250,000 people attended the 11 festivals
additional questionnaires to:
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local authorities
tourism authorities
relevant regional bodies
arts organisations
festival organisations
local businesses and sponsors
Chambers of Commerce
• analysis of the festivals’ websites and relevant policy documents
Calculating Economic Impact (1)
Two principal sources of financial information:
• expenditure by the festival organisation
• expenditure by the festival audience – ancillary
This raw data can be used to calculate three types of impact:
• direct (expenditures by the festival and audiences in the area)
• indirect (expenditures by the suppliers of goods and services to the
festival and to ancillary businesses)
• induced (expenditure by the employees of those companies that
supply the festival and the ancillary businesses)
To show:
• incomes generated by expenditure in the local economy
• jobs created/supported in the local economy
Calculating Economic Impact (2)
• rationale for the choice of the multipliers,
or why Atlanta is different from Tideswell
(or Tralee)
• the vexed issue of how to define a local
economy and why this matters
• the importance of the tourist pound (or
euro)
• the infrastructural costs of festivals
• local business and festivals
Buxton International Arts Festival
700
600
500
400
300
200
LOCAL
100
Not local >20 miles
0
N=
Local <=20 miles
555
212
300
250
200
150
LOCAL
100
Not local >20 miles
50
Festival
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Bu n t h
to
Ar
Local <=20 miles
0
5244 110
197 555
212 30167 94431 205
793 162
359 67172 1576 8315 35192 55 66
N=
Variations in occupational profiles between festivals
80
Occupation, synthesi
60
Managers
Professionals
Assoc Professionals
40
Administrative
Skilled Trades
Personal Services
Percent
20
Sales
Process
0
Elementary
Buxton IAF
Leicester BM
Derby CC
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Buxton International Arts Festival
60
50
40
30
20
Occupation, synthesis
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Derby Caribbean Carnival
30
20
10
Occupation, synthesis
Some key findings in Festivals and the Creative Region (1)
Festivals generate wealth and employment
• £7 million spent by audiences through local businesses.
A further £4 million may have been generated for the
region - equivalent to 209 FTE jobs
• 93% of local businesses saw festivals as good for
communities and 84% saw them as contributing to
tourism but .....
• 45% thought festivals were not sources of new business
for them – 33% did
• 20% thought that festivals were actually disruptive
Some key findings in Festivals and the Creative Region (2)
On social and cultural impact: enhancing local image
and identity
• more than 64% of audience members felt more positive
about the place where the festival was held
• 90% rated the content of the festials as good to excellent
• return visits - almost 70% of the audience would be
more likely to attend other events in the future
• 55% of people who attended, had been to the festival
before
• increasing interest in arts activities - more than 44%
said they had become more interested in the arts as a
result of attending a festival
Some key findings in Festivals and the Creative Region (3)
Varied audience profile
• almost 90% of people attending were in a group or couple
• 65% of attendees were over 45 years old
• young people under 25 represented the greatest potential for
growth. They make up 30.9% of the region's population but for these
festivals only make up 13.5% of audiences
Local commitment
• audience members generally travelled less than 50 miles return.
50% travelled less than 5 miles and 16.2% less than a mile.
• More than 17% of audience members came on foot. The majority of
those who attended travelled by car (71.9%.)
• 44% of people found out about the event by word of mouth and 17%
from the local newspaper
• an estimated 33,000 hours of help by volunteers (equivalent to 375
days work or £15,000 for each of the festivals) demonstrates that
many festivals are rooted in the social and cultural life of the host
community
Issues around disability, ethnicity and age
• provision for people with disabilities
• under-representation of Black and Asian
people in the festivals sector
• attracting more under-25s
Stakeholder views: some key points (1)
• need for increased funding
• improving communication, co-ordination, the
calendar
• weak links with non-cultural policy agendas
• profit v corporate social responsibility
• local v county v regional
• need for integrated action by local authorities in
their partnerships with the Arts Council
Stakeholder views: some key points (2)
• developing project management/evaluation skills
• understaffing and dependency on volunteers
• festivals are not always party to the existing
dialogue between tourism and business
• weaknesses in tourism infrastructure – transport,
accommodation and catering
• the weather is not always an asset
Some practical recommendations
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publicity in workplaces
group discounts
improving festival websites
potential role of local newspapers
signage – planning issues and cost
local festival fora and e-newsletters
making festivals part of local cultural clusters
developing high profile niche events
Festivals and the crisis of public
social life
Some trends:
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privatisation of public space
standardisation and excessive theming
museumisation
fear of "the other“
the emergence of "gated communities“
information and communication overload
the erosion of free time
a crisis of creativity?
The potential of festivals
A festival at its best can be:
not only
• an effective way of nurturing skills and social capital
• a vehicle for attracting visitors, and for enhancing the image of a
place for both local citizens and the outside world.
but also
• a catalyst for reflection and for imagining alternative futures for both
individuals and communities
• a source of creativity and innovation
• a way of developing audiences for different forms of cultural activity
• a process for generating different perspectives on place identity and
uses of space
Some concluding thoughts
• are festivals "festive"?
• the virtues of disruption and ambiguity
• the danger of "instrumentalisation“
• the importance of core audiences and core
identities
• widening mental and spatial horizons
• creating new intercultural festivals