The Leader of Durham County Council is calling on the business community to show its support for a light festival which brought a £4.3m boost to the local economy last year.
This morning the council’s Cabinet approved a report which detailed the very significant economic benefits of the four-day festival which took place last November.
Members were given the independent evaluation study which was carried out by analysis experts Miller. They were also asked to approve the next steps in the process of considering whether the event should be commissioned by the authority again to return in 2013. These include asking the business community as well as other stakeholders whether they would support such a move.
Speaking at Cabinet this morning Cllr Simon Henig, Leader of Durham County Council, said: “The stand out economic figures speak for themselves and it is now very important that businesses let us know their views before we make a decision on whether to bring Lumiere back in 2013. That decision will be made in July.
“Commissioning Lumiere 2011 did cost us money but we spent that money precisely because we believed it would reap the county significant financial benefits, which it most certainly has. It is the role of a good council to put money into events which bring about such rewards.
“I have already had letters from businesses outside of the city including guest houses, telling me they were fully booked for the duration of the four day festival. I would now appeal to others to indicate whether they would support the event’s return by writing to me directly if they would like to.”
The paper to Cabinet reports how the festival was commissioned by Durham County Council with a £400,000 allocation from the performance reward grant via the County Durham Economic Partnership. A funding stream which is no longer available.
Should a 2013 light festival be favoured, the council would have to find sufficient funds to commission Artichoke to produce it. Artichoke would then raise a significant part of the funding itself.
The report makes reference to the difficulties experienced for a short time on the first evening of the festival and the feedback from the independently
chaired Safety Advisory Group (SAG) that reviewed the event.
The SAG, the county council and Artichoke all acknowledge that there are suggestions on how to improve any future event which will require very detailed discussion, should a further light festival go ahead.
In 2009 Artichoke was commissioned for the first Lumiere Durham event as part of the UK City of Culture bid submitted by the council and Visit County Durham. The bid saw Durham City make the shortlist. The council is supportive of an annual signature event as part of its commitment to the importance of culture based tourism to the county’s economy.