Festivals Fair
25 November 2005
The Festivals Fair, a full-day
event organised by Oxford Inspires, took place on Friday 25 November at
the Saïd Business School, Oxford. It was the first Oxford Inspires
event to focus on Oxfordshire festivals. The main objectives of the Fair
were to celebrate the thriving festival calendar of Oxfordshire—over
70 festivals were held in 2005—and to provide an opportunity for
networking, exchange of ideas and professional development. 100 people
attended the event, including representatives of 42 Oxfordshire festivals,
local, city and regional councils, as well as other key figures in Oxfordshire
cultural life.
After a welcome from the acting
chair of Oxford Inspires, Tony Stratton, an inspiring opening address
was given by Steve Heap, the director of Mrs Casey Music. The day's programme
consisted of the following five sessions on key issues of festival organisation
and development, interspersed with breaks for refreshments and lunch:
• Speakers on 'Fundraising'
included Rebecca Ball from Arts Council England and Cath Moffat from Awards
for All, who gave practical advice about the available grant schemes and
how to apply for them. Lynne Richards from Brighton Festival shared her
experiences on involving business sponsors.
• The 'Communities and
collaboration' session included two inspiring speakers: Stella Hall from
Culture 10, who spoke about her work in promoting community engagement
at the Belfast Festival, and Stewart Collins from Henley Festival whose
presentation showed the sheer diversity of the festival's outreach projects.
• The session on 'Sustainability
and growth' featured two experienced speakers. Tim Healey spoke about
his experiences as director of the Oxford Folk Festival and Helen Marriage
(Artichoke Productions) related inspiring and entertaining stories from
her time at the Salisbury Festival.
• The penultimate session
was on the oft-dreaded but crucial topics of 'Licensing, health and safety';
Tony Payne from Oxford City Council spoke with clarity about licensing
while Richard Limb, Environmental Health Officer for Capita Symonds, gave
an engaging and thought-provoking presentation on the importance and good
practice of risk assessment.
• In the final session
on 'Marketing' Jonathan Goodacre from Momentum Arts outlined key strategic
principles of successful marketing and gave inventive examples of how
to get the local press and public interested and involved.
In addition, Robert Hutchison
of Oxford Inspires gave a closing address which focussed on the plans
to make 2007 a year of festivals and special events, and of the role that
Oxford Inspires can play in facilitating and coordinating festival activities.
To download a copy of the presentations,
please click on the speakers names below.
Steve
Heap, Towersey Village Festival (PowerPoint, 1.8 Mb)
Lynne
Richards, Brighton Festival (PDF, 750 kb)
Stewart
Collins, Henley Festival (PowerPoint, 13.7 Mb)
Jonathan
Goodacre, Momentum Arts (PowerPoint, 6.5 Mb)
For more information on Arts Council
or Awards for All grants visit their websites at:
www.artscouncil.org.uk
www.awardsforall.org.uk
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