Belfast Children’s Festival 25th May – 3rd June 2007 End of Festival Report Introduction Young at Art’s international children’s festival has grown enormously since the first festival in 1998 and is now one of the largest in the UK, second only to the Bank of Scotland International Children’s Festival. Young at Art is now a flagship youth arts organisation in Northern Ireland, possessing unique elements such as a year-round programme of activity, a history of commissioning and supporting new artists, and a multi-artform programme. The Belfast Children’s Festival celebrated its 10th birthday in 2007 with a theme of Love & Friendship, combining accessible quality local and international artists and events for families, schools and groups. Belfast Children’s Festival Over its ten days the festival mounted over 160 events hosted 10 exhibitions was attended by over 10,000 children and adults involved over 70 artists was supported by 22 volunteers, 10 staff and the staff and volunteers of participating venues Many events sold out with an average capacity of 77%. Total attendance was 10,289 including participation by 30 schools and groups (see attached breakdown). The festival blended performance and participatory activities with a healthy mixture of free drop-in and ticketed events, combining local and international artists, multiple artforms and cross-artform events. Participating artists came from Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Denmark, Brazil and Italy. Building on the successful partnerships of 2006 and before, the festival used its programme to draw families into Belfast and public venues, particularly over its opening weekend. Collaboration with Belfast City Council and the Waterfront Hall drew together civic events such as the Lord Mayor’s Carnival and the Continental Market with festival events, including the massively successful Festival in a Weekend at the Waterfront Hall, creating one massive family-friendly weekend in the city and uniting the organisations in celebrating not only the 10th festival but also the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Waterfront Hall. Festival venues included the City Hall, Black Box, Old Museum Arts Centre and Waterfront Hall. The Parks Department played a major part in the festival, hosting two days of successful and well attended events in Botanic Gardens, despite the weather. Young at Art continued to promote and discuss issues around children and young people’s cultural entitlement and creative needs through its Open Space initiative. Three seminars took place during the festival – details of each discussion will soon be available on www.youngatart.co.uk. Programme highlights More of it than we think – a showcase of children’s and young people’s artwork exhibited throughout festival venues Cinderella - a magical world standard one-woman show with exceptional puppetry, design and wit Daniel Morden and Oliver Wilson-Dickson demonstrating the art of storytelling at its finest in Monster Children aged 0-3 years experiencing a year in the life of a garden in Egg & Spoon The world’s first pregnant man, courtesy of Lempen Puppet Theatre, baffling passers-by in the Waterfront Hall during Festival in a Weekend Outreach The Community Ticket Scheme ran for a second time in 2007, working with An Droichead Cultural Resource Centre in South Belfast, New Lodge Youth Centre (Grey Gables) in North Belfast, Chinese Welfare Association and Indian community arts organisation, ArtsEkta. The scheme was devised to provide special access to the festival for communities and groups who cannot or do not regularly attend arts events by offering discounted tickets and training in Young at Art’s box office system. A Friendship Fund was introduced offering discounted tickets and transport assistance to schools and groups in disadvantaged areas – this proved very successful and it is intended to repeat the scheme in 2008. Schools and groups were also offered additional “make the most of it” workshops at very low cost if they attended festival events. These workshops were designed to turn a festival visit into a full-day programme. Areas for the children to eat their packed lunches were arranged for most visits. Schools and groups were contacted about the festival and relevant schemes via a direct mailing and follow up calls, including an easy-to-use faxable booking form. Festival Marketing The festival marketing campaign rolled out over a four-month period through advertising and direct mail. It was supported by a strong PR campaign generating significant local coverage. The promotional print for the festival, in addition to brochures, included postcards to highlight specific events and draw attention to the festival and its on-line presence. A significant increase in web sales was generated while the additional bulk of print enabled far wider distribution. Print 40,000 x brochures 10,000 x A5 Festival postcards 10,000 x A5 Festival in a Weekend postcards 5,000 x A5 Urban Arts Akidemy postcards 2,500 x A5 Lá le Jackie/Open Space postcards 2,500 x A5 Belfast Children’s Festival goes to the park postcards 200 x A3 full colour posters 150 x A3 mono colour community promotion posters 2,000 x faxback forms 1,000 x balloons Advertising 30 x Adshel sites across festival launch (cycle 7) 6 x Adshel sites in run up to festival (cycle 10) 10 x Adshel sites across festival opening (cycle 11) Colour ads in two issues of NI4Kids Free banner advertising on NI4Kids website Direct marketing Direct mail to 1,447 schools Direct mail to 1,114 families 314 festival launch invitations Telemarketing to schools Venue brochures and websites also listed events and highlighted the festival. Brochures were distributed to family friendly retail outlets, cafes, visitor attractions etc. across Belfast, Greater Belfast, Co Down and Co Antrim leisure and community centres and libraries. Press The festival generated a high level of media coverage including features on BBC Radio Ulster’s Arts Extra, UTV Live, U105 FM, Downtown Radio, GMTV and a very high web presence. Print coverage included features and articles in Belfast Telegraph, South Belfast News, Irish News, Community Telegraph, News Letter, Ulster Tatler, Irish Times, Ireland’s Homes, Interiors and Living; national coverage included pieces in The Guardian, The Times, MixMag and the Sunday Telegraph Magazine. Promotions Brochure and balloon promotions were held at five shopping centres in the North, South, East and West of the city. This was in addition to leafleting outside the Belfast Welcome Centre and during the Belfast Marathon. Funding The festival received funding from a range of sources, notably from the National Lottery Fund through ACNI, towards programming and promotion costs. The original ACNI Lottery application contained programming elements that were eventually not included in the festival (Garden Party). This was due to the delay in the ACNI Lottery funding decision which resulted in certain elements being removed due to the lack of planning and preparation time. Long-standing relationships with 3rd Source Media and ClearChannel continued to be a success while new partnerships were forged with Royal Mail and Mash Direct, who provided cash sponsorship for specific festival events, and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, who sponsored and hosted the festival launch. Funders Arts Council of Northern Ireland (core funding) Belfast City Council (core funding) National Lottery Fund through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Department for Social Development Foras na Gaeilge Sponsors Royal Mail Mash Direct Belfast Harbour Commissioners 3rd Source Media (in-kind) ClearChannel (in-kind) Jury’s Inn (in-kind) Bloomsbury Books (in-kind) No Alibis Bookstore (in-kind) Evaluation A range of monitoring and evaluation tools were employed during and post festival. Recording audience feedback was vital, but the views of volunteers, staff, artists and venues were equally important in determining the success of the festival and ensuring issues can be addressed for future years. Methods of evaluation Comments slips – 144 returned Online survey - 416 issued via the e-marketing function of ts.com, 123 returned Postal questionnaire to volunteers – 21 issued, 11 returned Postal questionnaire to schools/groups – 29 issued, 11 returned Postal questionnaire to More of it than we think groups – 9 issued, 5 returned Postal questionnaire to Parent Ambassadors (mystery shoppers) – 7 issued, 2 returned Debriefs with staff, artists, venues and partners The overall impression was very positive with happy audiences appreciating a high quality programme of events. Below is a sample selection of feedback received via comments slips and the online survey. “My kids really enjoyed the Jacare Jungle and the other activities on in the Waterfront itself. I think you are doing a great job and it gets better with each year.” Festival in a Weekend “We really enjoyed it! And this is our first time at the Children’s Festival. I would come back next year!” Diva “It was excellent – show had something for everyone – a lovely experience for all ages” Egg & Spoon “We came from Scotland and really enjoyed it. Well done to all staff” Conclusion The festival was considered a success and a fitting tribute to its 10th year. The quality of the programme was very high with a healthy box office as a result. The festival was well run by staff and volunteers with very few problems arising. Artists were very happy with the warm welcome from festival staff and volunteers,