SUMMER | WELCOME
Colophon
EDITOR
Tom Hall
CONTRIBUTORS
Martin Fullard
NEWS
REPORTER
Stuart Wood
SALES
DIRECTOR SENIOR DESIGNER
James Linin Sean Wyatt-Livesley
PRODUCTION
MANAGER SUBSCRIPTIONS
EXECUTIVE
Elizabeth Nixon Matthew Williams
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Duncan Siegle
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O
n my way to discuss our report with the NTIA and We Are The Fair
at the former’s summer event I was considering how to persuade
local authorities to support events.
The Political Economy of Informal Events’ 128 pages of statistics, business
cases, and arguments for causes – such as championing emerging
artists – overwhelmed me with what our industry can achieve.
The week after my talk, one event – Pride in London (p32) – managed
to gather 1.5 million people together for a part-celebration-part-protest
that saw causes championed, and smiles on faces.
There are, naturally, criticisms of the event from inside the LGBT+
community and beyond – largely centring on companies profiteering
from Pride, or using it to ‘virtue signal’. But it’s not just in the spirit
of freedom of speech that we give these critics a voice. People with
divergent visions and a sense of rebellion are cut from the same cloth as
those who keep the industry fresh with creative new experiences – be
it immersive theatre, start-up festivals, or indeed alternative LGBT+
events.
The success of Pride is in-keeping with statistics from our report,
which cites a rise in spend on culture, recreation and sport from £4.4m
in 1988 to £19.8m in 2017. These figures, and a glance at the crowds
at Pride itself, prove people are actively choosing events over other
competitive spending options.
So, since government and local authorities are set up (ostensibly
at least) to serve the public, they surely have a duty to support our
industry... or at least not get in the way.
It’s notable then, that some of the most disruptive and economically
impactful events featured in this jam-packed issue were borne out of
nurturing and freeing bureaucratic structures. Of that we can all be
proud.
Tom Hall, Editor
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