University of South Wales’ Post

The 'Festival Cities and Regions Workshop' at the European Festivals Association Arts Festivals Summit 2024 on Usedom brought together festival makers and city and region representatives to engage in a meaningful dialogue about the arts, festivals and their territories. Key conclusions included: 🌟The need to facilitate the conditions for more cooperation and dialogue between the cities, regions and their festivals. 🌟 The notion of ‘experiment’ and how festivals can be considered organisations and laboratories for new thinking that are building knowledge on the people and the territory. Festivals offer their local authorities insights about their inhabitants that go beyond statistics. 🌟The need for arts and culture to be more assertive on cultural policies to distinguish festivals’ artistic value from just touristic revenue and highlight their broader contribution to their communities. Sustainability stays high on the agenda also for the cities: what are local policies and measures that address sustainability in festivals? More on these findings later. This workshop was organised in partnership with “A Soul for Europe” and is embedded in the EFFE Seal for Festival Cities and Regions Initiative which aims to offer a platform for cities, regions and festivals alike to discuss knowledge, practices and policies from local to European level and back.

My Journey at the BIR MUSIC FESTIVAL : A Tapestry of Achievements and Emotions When I look back at my time with the Bir Music Festival, a wave of pride, joy, and nostalgia washes over me. The festival has been a journey, a blend of hard work, creativity, and unforgettable moments. This season was a whirlwind of activity. Balancing artist and stage management, all creative work, and sponsorship management was intense, but it was also incredibly rewarding. The festival's growth and the positive feedback from participants were testaments to the team's hard work and dedication. It felt like everything was coming together, and the festival was evolving into something bigger and better. #ANewChapter  As I embark on Season XI, the excitement is palpable. Each season has been a stepping stone, and I'm eager to see how this one unfolds. The challenges, the successes, and the experiences yet to come fill me with anticipation. #TheEmotional HighsThroughout these seasons, the emotional highs have been numerous. From the thrill of a successful event to the quiet moments of reflection after the crowds have gone, each experience has left an indelible mark on my heart. The camaraderie with fellow organizers, the smiles of attendees, and the feeling of being part of something truly special are emotions I will carry with me forever. #BirMusicFestival #FestivalJourney #EventManagement #MusicFestivals #FestivalAchievements #EmotionalJourney #CreativeLeadership #ArtistManagement #EventSuccess #FestivalLife #LiveMusicExperience #FestivalOrganizer #FestivalInspiration #EventPro #FestivalMemories #LeadershipInEvents #MusicFestivalSeason #FestivalCommunity #VolunteerExperience #FestivalMagic #CareerAchievements #FestivalNostalgia #SustainableEvents

Summer is officially here and Chicago has so much to offer! Get your calendars out and try to fit in some of these festivals. There are so many draws for people to move to Chicago. If you know anyone looking to make Chicago home have them reach out to me. I would love to help them get settled. #kassiehoulihanrealtor #teamhoulihan #allthewayhomelove #summerinchicago #yourehome #sellingchicago #atproperties #atpropertieschristiesinternationalrealestate

I passionately believe that the joy of reading, and fulfilment from books, is a great leveller, to be enjoyed by EVERYONE. I whole-heartedly agree that Book Festivals improve our world - see the joint statement below from the UK's leading festivals, including Cambridge Literary Festival where I am a Trustee. Book Festivals are just magical. Just think: you can go from reading a book on your own.... - to then see the author who created it, up-close and in-person - get to hear the author share insights and perspectives that deepen the meaning of what you have read - hear a funny anecdote, inside joke or story they may never tell again - get to ask them your own burning questions - share a communal experience of the book that prreviously only 'lived' in your mind (unless you read out loud - what a joy!) - be the first to hear about their next books or ideas - meet them in person to hand over your copy of their work for personalised signing while you share a little chat - to leaving the event brimming with ideas, possibilities and maybe even new friends. Whatever your age, whatever your background, wherever you live - I urge you to get out there and enjoy your Book Festivals - especially if you haven't felt it was 'your thing' or thought they're 'not for you'. Hope to see you there! #books #bookfestivals #literaryfestivals #fiction #nonfiction #culture #liveevents #Publishing

Mini Project 12 for Career Preparation class  professional organizations in the music industry assignment Description Students will have to research two different professional music organizations learn about their upbringing and find their benefits and how to join as a member as well as what they offer #CareerPreparation #MiniProject. #Learnandresearch #memberbenefits #professionalmusicorganizations #SAEInstituteAtlanta

It's good to see promising attendance and ticket revenue figures in 2023 from Live Performance Australia. LPA's Evelyn Richardson said: ‘Despite cost of living pressures, Australians continued to strongly support live performance. It’s clear they value engagement with all categories of live performance, from ballet and dance, classical music and comedy through to musicals, theatre and festivals as well as tours by their favourite Australian and international acts.' However, she tempered that with words of warning about the future of our arts sector: ‘... behind the headline figures there continues to be real pressures on many of our performing arts organisations. It’s essential that governments at all levels recognise the cultural, social and economic importance of our live arts and entertainment industry and continue to invest in Australia’s creative capability and potential.' At Giving Culture, we also think the corporate sector can do a lot more too! As Evelyn puts it, the performance industry enriches 'Australia’s social and economic life': https://lnkd.in/gDa46JJD

The true cost of festivals isn’t just the ticket price. 🎟️ Let's dive into three ways festivals affect the environment and how we can help. Read more in our latest blog: https://loom.ly/PdQQv_c

This idiotic behavior will only stop when Festival organizers grow some courage and start pushing-back on these morons. It is as simple as that. These so-called activists hold as much (or little) power as the Festival organizers allow them to. The fact that they retort to threats and violence is confirmation that they can’t actually win the debate. Get the Police and the Judiciary involved. Bullies only respond to strength. Stand-up and defend these places of Culture, be it Books, Music or Sports Festivals. The onus isn’t on great business institutions like Barclays, Baillie Gifford or bp who provide this much-needed financial support. It’s on you Festivals. You can collectively beat this insane movement. Time for action.

The fact that several key literature festivals have lost funding from a major sponsor is bad news but shows accountability is important. Baillie Gifford, a financial services company, has announced it will withdraw backing for Hay Festival as well as Cheltenham Literature Festival and Edinburgh International Liiterature Festival after the collaboration rightly came under scrutiny from Fossil Free Books, an eco campaign group and lobbyists protesting at the firm's indirect involvement in the Israeli occupation of Gaza. As someone who has worked for a literature festival and volunteered at an arts centre during the austerity years, I appreciate the challenges organisers of these events face. And, in a world where Arts Council grants are a finite resource, that often means either getting a corporate sponsorship deal or doing things on a shoestring with local council funding. But perhaps programmers need to roll the dice more and come up with innovative ideas, be that cross-artform collaboration or forging links with partner festivals. Film has always been part of literature programming, along with music, and let's not forget that Latitude and Glastonbury festivals both started out as cross-artform projects. The excellent Manchester Literary Festival stages diverse events alongside literature, while just recently Tbilisi's Zeg Fest even included a World Cup football match in its programme. On the flipside there was the debacle last year where Bradford Lit Fest commissioned a small local design company to do poster art, which ended up causing the organisers a headache when participating graphic novelists pulled out of the event in protest at the use of AI-generated artwork in the marketing campaign. Looking to the longterm, programmers will need to navigate the thin ice they are on and ensure their litfest doesn't end up a snoozefest. The future of UK literary festivals: ‘There is no magic fairy’ https://lnkd.in/d_xf8AnT #culture  #creativeindustries  #books  #literature

✨ RTÉ Supporting the Arts ✨ RTÉ Almost Doubles Support for Irish Arts and Cultural Events since 2014    RTÉ supported 178 arts and cultural events all over the island of Ireland in 2024. This represents an 82% increase over the ten years since the scheme was re-launched in 2014, when 98 events were supported by RTÉ. The renowned scheme – which won the Business to Arts Special Recognition Award in 2018 – also increased the number of supported events year-on-year, from 170 in 2023 to 178 in 2024.   The RTÉ Supporting the Arts scheme aims to promote attendance at arts events nationwide, and supports the full range of genres, from dance to opera, visual arts to children’s events, literary festivals, film and Irish-language events. In 2023, RTÉ delivered a 30% increase year-on-year in the annual number of campaigns supporting Ireland’s rich and vibrant cultural landscape. The scheme offers dedicated promotion on RTÉ’s television, radio and digital services, and extensive support across RTÉ’s social channels. With production services provided by RTÉ, in addition to promotional airtime, the RTÉ Supporting the Arts scheme is a lifeline to Ireland’s creative and cultural sectors.   Kevin Bakhurst, Director-General, RTÉ, said: “Artists not only deserve an audience, they need an audience. Ireland’s rich and vibrant arts and cultural sector can only thrive and grow if it is consumed – watched, read, listened to, participated in, and – crucially – attended. This is why the RTÉ Supporting the Arts scheme is so important. RTÉ allocates over €1million worth of promotional airtime each year to the arts, so that audiences all over Ireland can be informed about arts and cultural events near them, in every genre, and for everybody. I’d like to thank the RTÉ Supporting the Arts committee, and the teams in RTÉ’s commercial and promos divisions, for their steadfast support of the scheme, which has allowed it to grow so substantially and consistently. But most of all I’d like to thank the artists, the organisers, the national cultural institutions, the festivals, arts organisations and cultural bodies, whose incredible work we are so proud to support in ever increasing numbers.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/e9UPrXcc Find out what’s happening near you on www.rte.ie/culture  #RTESupportingtheArts