Public Servant Lifestyle

Arts Council England has shown that folk festivals are a 'key' sector in the success of the UK’s creative economy.

Folk festivals produce real, sustainable local economic impacts, with UK folk festivals generating spending of over £82 million a year, according to a national research study into the impact of folk festivals.

The Impact of Folk Festivals was developed by Arts Council England and the Association of Festival Organisers, with funding from the New Audiences Programme, and the research study was undertaken by Morris Hargreaves MacIntyre.

Attendees

There are currently more than 350 folk festivals in the UK attracting over 350,000 attendances, from 106,000 people, with an average spend per visitor per festival of £226. The report shows that festivals are good news for a region’s economy because they tend to employ local people and use local goods and services. This results in the money remaining within the locality. Festivals are also a major tourist attraction and over 90% of folk festival attenders are tourists.

The report found that festivals:

Produce a higher return on investment than most other tourism events due to high levels of loyalty and repeat visitors

76% of attenders are already repeat visitors, with 70% of those attending most years and 44% attending every year

Attract a high proportion of young people and women

45% of attenders are under 35 years old and that 20% of all attenders are aged 19 or under, and 52% of attenders are women

Positively encourage audience participation, with around 90% of festival attendees participating by singing, dancing or playing a musical instrument

Help to sustain the folk industry, through development opportunities for artists and performers, encouraging new audiences, and by providing a lucrative marketplace for recordings and instruments

75% of attendees will purchase an album at a festival – compact disc sales are estimated to be around £4 million a year.

Alan James, Head of Contemporary Music at Arts Council England said: "The Arts Council is delighted to have commissioned this work illustrating, as it does so clearly, the relationship between the outstanding artistic activity at these events and the impact it has on audiences, economic development, regeneration and cultural tourism."

Steve Heap, General Secretary, Association of Festival Organisers said: "With this final completed report folk music, dance and song – and in particular festivals, can stand proud with many other arts forms that culturally, artistically, organisationally and now economically add to the wealth of the arts in England today.

This report is already making an impact on the thinking of funders and sponsors when planning, where best to lodge their support. Folk music is the country’s heritage of music, dance and song and so is the foundation and our future in which we must invest."

See also on Lifestyle:

Festival Round Up - Lifestyle's festival round up for the coming year.

Faulkner's Folk Turn - New single release from Newton Faulkner's debut album.

Athletic Shanty Time - With the release of a new James Yorkston single, it looks like Domino's 'New Wave of Folk' is here.

For more information on British arts festivals the following links may be useful:

www.artscouncil.org.uk

British Arts Festivals Association

www.folkarts-england.org

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More information available in Arts & Culture, Festivals