"Organisers and facilitators of major sporting and cultural events are invited to give evidence to a new inquiry from MPs examining the challenges faced by the industry and how the sector can tap into new opportunities for growth and collaboration."
– UK Parliamentary Committee of Culture, Media and Sport
DEADLINE EXTENDED. UK Parliamentary Committee of Culture have extended the deadline to submit evidence for their inquiry into Major events by two weeks.
New Deadline: 18th September
Note – definition of Major Events is those attracting 10,000 people a day, and your submission should not have been published anywhere already, including blogs, newspaper articles, websites, and journals.
Why you should submit evidence
In the most recent Spending Review, the Government committed £500m of funds to support the strategic securing and delivery of world class major sporting events hosted in the UK. There was unfortunately no such explicit commitment for cultural events, despite the recent successes of Eurovision in Liverpool, Bradford's City of Culture and Birmingham Festival 2022 taking place in conjunction with Commonwealth Games 2022.
The Major Events Inquiry is an opportunity for the cultural sector to make a case for support.
Many Major Events take place in outdoor spaces, and the expertise of our sector is often called upon for ceremonies and spectacles. Engaging our sector in making strategic investment decisions to strengthen our sector is therefore beneficial for the successful delivery of Major Events in the future, and our voice needs to be present in this Inquiry.
Did you know?
Scotland and Wales have their own national strategies for Major Events, which work in sync with localised strategies. No such national strategies exist in England and Northern Ireland, although some localised events strategies do exist. The Cultural Olympiad for London 2012 was the closest thing we had to a national strategy, and it helped the Outdoor Arts sector grow, with sporting and cultural events mutually enhancing our respective reach and impact.
As well as making economic impact, events have transformational impact on individuals and communities. The Power of Events Report by Spirit of 2012 helpfully highlights social and economic impact of events, including cultural events taking place in outdoor spaces. The Report also recommends that the design, delivery, and legacy planning of these events to strategically focus on sustaining the impact of these events.
What if?
What if national, local and devolved Governments worked collaboratively with the Arts Councils, communities, and the private sector to develop a nationwide Major Events Strategy?
What if key players in the cultural sector, including those from Outdoor Arts, were integral in developing of this Strategy?
What if we collaborated closely with Sporting and Commercial Events to enhance each other's value?
If you already work in a place that has a localised Events Strategy, what if this was backed up and endorsed by a National Strategy?
Imagine what difference we'll be able to make together if we worked coherently and collaboratively.
Here to help
OutdoorArtsUK will be making our own submission, and if you would like further pointers to help shape your submission, do get in touch with us.
We are here for you.
Join OAUK
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