It feels like a dream now. Just a few months before Birmingham City Council revealed its financial troubles, the city was in the throws of euphoric celebrations. Birmingham Festival 23 was a 10-day event to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Commonwealth Games in the city. Reflecting Brum’s diversity with live music, performances and activities, thousands of us turned up.
But was it all worth it? Well, an independent evaluation report – researched and written by FRY Creative Consulting (FRY) – has mapped out the impact of Birmingham Festival 23, both socially and economically. And its findings appear to be overwhelmingly positive. With over 123,000 people (mostly from Birmingham and the West Midlands) turning up to see 153 individual projects and performances, created by over 800 artists, creatives and performers.
Over half (52%) of attendees came from areas of high social deprivation, with 34.6%
of audiences saying they had never attended a free, outdoor arts event before. Most people (78.6%) agreed that the festival impacted positively their physical and mental well-being too. 83.9% of residents agreed that the festival made them feel proud of their local area, and 79.2% of visitors agreed it improved their perception of Birmingham.
Just from this alone, the positive impact of Birmingham Festival 23 is undeniable. We’re sure many would like to see the return of something similar in the future. In fact, 96% of people agreed that public spaces such as Centenary Square should be used more frequently for public cultural events. But seeing where Birmingham currently is financially, is such a thing likely?
There was an economic promise to the Commonwealth celebrations too. Local audiences spent a total of £422,391, with visitors from further afield spending £210,616. It is worth noting that Birmingham Festival 23 spent over £2,060,000 delivering the 10-day festival – 56.5% of this went to organisations based in Birmingham and 30.8% to wider West Midlands organisations. Only 12% went to organisations beyond the region.
At the end of the report, FRY leaves a list of ‘recommendations’ for improvement at future events. This includes things like better communicating the overarching Festival narrative to the creatives involved; considering making it a city-wide festival; and working to ensure diversity of backstage matches the diversity onstage. Are we likely to see a Birmingham Festival 24 or even 25? We’ll just wait and see… To read the full evaluation report head here.