What have the Festivals ever done for us?

Once again, there may be cynics who would question the value of something as general as“awareness raising”. But put it this way: if Peterborough were a company and a brand, and these festivals and events marketing exercises, they would be considered a huge success, by any standards. Companies put efforts into such things because they change the way people think about them, and make customers more likely to choose them in the future. If they didn’t, none would bother. A city is no different. And if people choose to bring their custom here, the revenue goes up, jobs are secured, new businesses are made possible.

I wanted The Willow Festival to become an annual celebration for our local talent and population, but the underlying aims were much more serious. If the festival was nationally or internationally recognised then we could wake the music industry up to our presence and hopefully have the spotlight turned on us. We could be used as a marketplace for the recording industry, in the same way the famous SXSW festival started out in the US

Says Mark Ringer

It isn’t only visitors and tourists who can have their perceptions shifted in this way. It works for residents, too.

I also wanted to introduce our local population to live music of all genres. Maybe we could inspire them to attend live music venues on a regular basis, become musicians or consider a vocation within the multi-billion pound music industry

he adds.

It was for this reason that The Willow Festival was designed as a free event. Being free to enter and also family orientated meant it would attract many visitors who perhaps would not normally frequent a live music show. In terms of raising awareness, Lisa Helin scored a major coup this year with
the Arts Fest.

When I joined we had a successful Arts Council grant for two years, and that really helped fund a lot of the artistic elements of the festival, and was also the first driver to increasing the quality. Now we’ve had another Arts Council grant for this year, but we have also just been awarded European funding for the next two years. So we’ve secured the festival for another three years, to really secure the quality

This is not just about securing money for events – it also establishes Peterborough
more firmly on the national and international stage.

Being part of the European network means that we are linked with six European festivals, one of which is nearly the biggest festival in France – Vivacité, (not to be confused with Vivacity!). Their budget is £3.2 million. My budget is a fraction of that, but what that enables us to do is get the best booking opportunities, because I can go there as a partner and cherry pick what I want. Then I bring it back and we judge whether it would work for Peterborough, what participation we can get out of it – performers that can be here as a residency, who can go out into the community, who can tour work. It’s about a more cohesive package, but it’s also about securing the festival long term and linking us nationally with other festivals

This international recognition also makes some of Lisa’s ambitions for the festival – making it a viable forum for world premieres of major works, for example – entirely realisable. Just a few years ago, such things would have been unthinkable. While shifts in perception help, it’s also about the infrastructure. Lisa admits that without the new open spaces in the city centre – the spaces in which all these events take place – such ambitions would be a whole lot harder to achieve. Annette Joyce agrees, highlighting the knock-on effect current and future developments can have:

Cathedral Square now lends itself to big events, because it looks so wonderful. Last year we had a fabulous year of events. One of the things that has snowballed from that is the increase of bookings to the Embankment. We have the start and finish of PGER there, Mark Ringer had a fantastically successful Willow Festival, and out of that has grown the Levity Festival, and it has put that venue on the map. We’re now in talks with Olly Murs’ promoters, doing deals with them to get
them using the Embankment. And we’re costing it out to make the Embankment more festival friendly, because its potentially vulnerable to bad weather conditions. We’re looking at improving that infrastructure to make it more resilient, and allow us to have more use from it. It is a fabulous place to put on an event

In other words, the success if these events has not only brought it to the attention of others, but demonstrated that they can have similar success here. It’s opened up whole new revenue streams.

One of the reasons we got the Olympic Torch Relay, was because we had demonstrated, through the PGER, that we could handle a big event, with the closing of arterial roads, and a team to manage to all

adds Annette

All these things are clearly connected. Better infrastructure means more opportunities, which in
turn raise profile, get attention of other customers and businesses and present new possibilities. They also boost the city’s sense of self-worth. While this may seem the most intangible of intangibles, it’s
worth noting none of this would have happened had a relatively small group of individuals not believed that it was worth doing in the first place, and pressed ahead with their vision. And that, perhaps, is the most important benefit of all. No business succeeds without passion, drive and belief. And the support and belief of others, of course.

This was certainly key for Mark Ringer when he was considering bringing back The Willow Festival
last year.

Fifteen minutes into my first meeting with Marco, it was clear that things were different. Here was someone who was committed into turning Peterborough into a city with the potential to be great again. I knew that we’d get support on a level that we’d never experienced before, so I took it on

Success with Willow – which last year attracted in excess of 50,000 people – made Levity possible, and that now stands to be the biggest event of its type in Europe. Sucess breeds success. But also it needs people to do what is necessary in any business – take a chance. As Annette Joyce
puts it:

We’ve got a leadership that is very open to trying new things. We haven’t waited for the city to decline before investing it. We’re doing it already.” Marco adds: “I can remember when people used to say :‘There’s no point doing anything in Peterborough, because whatever you do, it fails…’ Last year we had the torch, and I don’t think we’ve ever had a more succesful event in the entire city. The returns in TV time, media publicity, the thousands who came into the city, who had never been to the city before… How do you put a value on that?

For years now, Peterborough hasn’t been great for the arts, but that is changing. There’s a big untapped audience] out there, and we’re going to reach them

Mark adds

Levity VIP Tickets

In association with Syrup Events, the Levity team are offering a luxurious VIP experience. Guests will not only benefit from VIP treatment and front-of- house priority seating on the evening of their choice, but will also have in-house entertainment or meet-and-greet opportunities provided by a selection of the festival’s celebrity comedians.

VIP tickets include:

• General admission to the festival for the whole weekend
• Priority parking
• Fast-track entry
• Champagne reception
• Waitress and open bar service
• Foster’s fun bar and real ales
• Cocktail bar
• Fine wines and liqueurs
• All-day sumptuous and varied menu
• Exclusive VIP area comic performances
• Meet-and-greet opportunities
• Lord Mayor’s charity casino
• Complimentary extreme rides
• VIP powder room facilities

Levity Festival takes place from Friday to Sunday, July 19 to 21, on the river Nene Embankment. Performance times: 4pm to 11pm Friday 19 July; midday to 11pm Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July.

For further information visit: www.levityfestival.co.uk
Twitter: @levityfestival
Facebook: www.facebook.com/levityfestival

Levity: www.levityfestival.co.uk
Willow: thewillowfestival.org.uk
Arts Fest: www.peterboroughfestival.co.uk
Heritage: www.vivacity-peterborough.com
Perkins Great Eastern Run: www.perkinsgreateasternrun.co.uk