Launch and Festival Report 1 Back to Ours Launch Report Welcome!

Back to Ours launch. Neil Holmes, 2018

I would like to introduce you to Back to Ours; an arts project that has people right at its core. I think we’re a bit like an old friend or family member, and we’re as much about making new audiences feel welcome as we are about welcoming artists. We’re bold and ambitious with no hidden agenda. We simply just want people to experience, enjoy, and get excited about the arts - and if that’s for the first time, you’ll certainly be amongst friends. Working with venues at the heart of Hull communities, we like to present the familiar alongside the unfamiliar and a bit of nostalgia with something new. The The Back to Ours team, 2018 most important thing is that everyone enjoys themselves and goes away feeling they’ve had a great day or night out not too far from home. As an action research project, we’re always learning. We don’t have all the answers to engaging people in the arts, but we’re genuinely passionate about working with people to try and we’d love you to join us on this journey. Louise Yates, Director

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WHAT IS BACK TO OURS? We know that having open and accessible feedback methods, tailored to our Back to Ours was a groundbreaking audiences, helps to provide invaluable data festival as part of the Hull UK City of to our organisation. In developing our own Culture programme, with a focus on process to collate and analyse data, we’ve situating national and international considered national, regional and industry quality touring work in neighbourhoods best practice and guidelines, as well as across Hull during half-term holidays. those recommended by our partners and The approach we developed through critical friends. the delivery of the festival provides the perfect foundation for good practice in arts A wide range of different feedback and engagement in communities; it’s the ideal data collection methods have been project to be carrying forward Hull’s legacy used, including social media, interviews, of high quality arts delivery in every corner questionnaires, footfall/sales, website of the city. analytics, photographs, meetings, emails and telephone conversations. Back to Ours is now the name for Creative People and Places in Hull, an Arts Council Fundamental to what we do is the aim -funded organisation and to continually build relationships with one of 21 Creative People and Places audiences on different platforms and at organisations tasked with engaging people different levels of engagement. We want in the arts in areas of low arts engagement to remain open to critical feedback and across the UK. accessible to people who want to talk to us, helping us steer the directions of this Based on the Thornton Estate, Back exciting journey. to Ours is currently managed by the Goodwin Development Trust. We work “I received some feedback from a in partnership with, and are supported local resident who stumbled across by, Arts Council England, Absolutely one of our events in North Point Cultured (formerly Hull 2017), Freedom Shopping Centre. She told us that Festival, Hull Culture & Leisure, , and Goodwin although she loved the event, she Development Trust. had only stumbled across it because she was shopping in the Centre. We Snap Happy Paparazzi. OUR AIMS responded to the lady by asking Neil Holmes, 2018 • To deliver outstanding arts and cultural her to join a Hub group for the local experiences with and for the people of area. I invited her to come along and Hull, which are open and welcome to join the Bransholme Hub to give all; her a voice for the local community • To continue to support the on what Back to Ours brings to commissioning, production, creation and touring of new, original and the area. She’d get to know what’s inspirational work; happening at the planning stages and would be the first to be able to • To engage local people as audiences, participants, creators and tell her friends and neighbours how commissioners; they can get involved. She’s been to each meeting since joining. The Hub • To bring the arts to life in familiar settings as you’ve never seen them groups are so important to Back to before; Ours in developing what we put on in peoples communities., we can not • To work with creative partners to ensure sustainability. do it without them.” OUR APPROACH – Tony Forrester, Community Engagement Manager Back to Ours is an active learning project, with a passion and commitment to evaluation, self-assessment and continual improvement, following a process that aims to discuss and analyse its performance as an arts organisation.

4 Recording this evaluation provides a “Back to Ours embodies Hull UK means to capture our findings, sharing City of Culture’s ethos of culture for this internally as well as with our funders, everyone. We are inviting people supporters and all other interested parties (including peers and equivalent in all corners of the city to try Creative People and Places organisations something new.” nationwide). The results of these findings – Martin Green, Chief Executive and are then translated into active responses Director of Hull UK City of Culture 2017 and new approaches to finding, building and communicating with audiences LAUNCH RATIONALE and participants. When we try out a We wanted to give Back to Ours a moment new approach, it’s based on previous to take to the stage in a City of Culture. learning, but on the understanding that By launching publicly and city-wide, we not everything we do will be successful; if felt we were giving ourselves the best things go wrong, or aren’t as successful as opportunity to convey a clear message we hoped, we’ll analyse, understand why about what our aims and remit are in a it happened, and learn from it so we can way which is characteristically ‘Back to build this experience into our next attempt. Ours’. Similarly, with successes, we’re conscious In line with the 2017-2020 Back to Ours that we need to continually understand business plan, the first quarter of 2018 the factors involved to know how to carry was dedicated to re-branding and re- the key features forward to other similar launching. Through this, we aimed to reach events or activities. Within this process of out further to all communities across the learning, the important factor for Back to city. We want everyone to know that Back Ours is that our audiences experience high to Ours is a working arts organisation, quality work. We want them to enjoy the one that provides community Hubs, journey, building their trust to allow us to commissions arts events, and delivers its take them on other, potentially different, own unique and creative festivals. arts journeys. This was an opportunity to tell people We’re setting out to be refreshingly about the May 2018 half-term, shouting open about our failures and challenges. loudly and widely that the festival would We believe this will help us to share be continuing beyond City of Culture our learning more honestly and widely, as part of a larger programme of city- Dolly at Asda Kingswood. enabling us to deliver better projects and wide arts delivery. We wanted to excite Jerome Whittingham, 2018. engage new audiences. people about the festival, but also make them aware of the Hubs, commissions, events, activities and festivals we would be working to situate in neighbourhoods across Hull. We wanted to avoid shouting this message from a comfortable city centre location, knowing that it wouldn’t quite reach or be heard in Bransholme, Preston Road, Greatfield, Kingswood, Hessle Road and many other areas of Hull. We wanted to involve those areas and build on some of the connections we’d made through meetings with existing community groups and our new Hub groups, so those people who’d already given their time could experience our work in action. We knew that if people could see the launch, they’d see the scale of our ambition and the determination which we’d bring to the rest of the programme. We wanted people to see that what we do is tongue-in-cheek, inclusive, accessible, intriguing and positively disruptive of the everyday.

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Hot Dinners. Neil Holmes, 2018.

There were other benefits to delivering a INTERNAL BENEFITS public launch, including: • The opportunity for the new Back to EXTERNAL BENEFITS Ours team to learn and grow through this one project; • Demonstrating what we can deliver to people across Hull by showing rather • An enjoyable challenge for us and the than telling; wider team, with the proviso that it should be fun so other people can enjoy • Taking a face-to-face approach as it too; much as possible to build personal relationships, and not relying on other • Setting the bar for our future work in groups to tell people about Back to communities; Ours; • Commissioning a film of the event • Building momentum and trust with and a new Back to Ours image. The existing partners and stakeholders film would document the day, but through a demonstration of our would also communicate our aims and presence in, and therefore a introduce our team to stakeholders at a commitment to, their area; later date. • Covering a large geographical area within Hull along a 26-mile route; OPEN-TOP TOUR BUS • Taking a familiar phrase from 2017 The main Back to Ours festival brochure and re-imagining it as Back to Ours: image used during City of Culture features Creative People and Places; a crowd of characters, including a musician, • A press opportunity; ballerina, drag artist, comedian, older lady and her granddaughter accompanied by • A chance to increase our social media their dog, waiting at a bus stop, ready to following; set out on a wild night out at the festival. • Exciting people about the project and Bus routes in Hull represent a network leaving them wanting more; connecting the city and a democratic mode • An ongoing commitment to using non- of transport shared by everyone. For Back traditional spaces; to Ours, these are qualities we want to be reflected in our process and the outcomes • Focussing on areas of high of our work. disengagement. The next logical step for the characters at the bus stop is to get on a bus and continue their journey; this is where we 6 took our inspiration for the new Back to PROGRAMMING THE LAUNCH Ours image and the launch event. When Back to Ours became a Creative People Performers and Places project, it felt like the next Our experience of promoting Back to Ours stage of the journey – so for our launch, it in neighbourhoods and shopping areas felt appropriate to literally get aboard the means we know that walkabout street bus and show that we were moving on and performances create the right amount of continuing on the road. noise and draw the attention of people Taking an open-top bus ride brings passing by. This enables our staff and up memories of sightseeing volunteers to hand out information and holidays in cities and by the sea, engage people in conversations about with locations chosen for their Back to Ours, as they distinguish us from heritage, culture or picturesque people who are simply handing out flyers qualities to draw in tourists. By and disarm or entice potential audiences. touring the bus to Greatfield, North We programmed the following performers: Point Shopping Centre and Orchard Park, we wanted to make a strong Bailey La Creame; statement that these are Back to Comedy Waiters; Ours cultural destinations. Dolly Parton impersonator; We knew that a bus would give us the opportunity to take performers Elvis Presley impersonator; and volunteers across the city, Granny Turismo; popping up in some of the main shopping areas across Hull. We Hot Dinners; contacted East Motor Snap Happy Paparazzi; Services and asked if they could provide us with an open-top bus, Tea Ladies; which they agreed to. We then The Bodyguards; arranged with John E Wright to The Gorillas; Two Man One Man Band. measure up and wrap the bus with our Neil Holmes, 2018. new branding. Two Man One Man Band. “The launch was reliant on it being We were also joined during the morning a pretty fair-weather day. After by British Sign Language interpreter Abbi lots of weather watching for the Ramsden, who has interpreted a number of shows during each Back to Ours festival. week before and trying to make Abbi interpreted our Dolly Parton and Elvis contingency plans for rain. The performances during stops at Greatfield EYMS team took their summer Shops and North Point Shopping Centre. touring bus out of storage for She was also interviewed for the Back a test drive and it broke down, to Ours film by Sodium, providing an needing a significant time back essential external perspective on a journey she’s followed since 2017. in the workshop. Thankfully we still had two days to go, after a We wanted the bus to have a party couple of nervous phone calls the atmosphere and include a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar characters. EYMS team did a brilliant job and To ensure familiarity–and therefore were able to pull in a spare open memorability–we booked Elvis and Dolly top bus from Scarborough. The Parton impersonators in addition to less bus was a different shape but the familiar performers. signage company were able to One of the many performance highlights of make it work and cut the designs the day took place at Kingswood Asda with to fit. It’s part of the job that you our Dolly Parton impersonator. Pursued by can’t plan for everything, but the our mobile PA, neatly wheeled about in an team and partnerships with local Asda trolley, Dolly hit the aisles and wooed crowds with brilliant renditions of Jolene organisations enabled us to pull it and 9 to 5. Shoppers aged eight months off.” to 80 years plus were stopped in their – Claire Drury, Producer & Programme Manager 7 Back to Ours / Launch report

tracks as they were confronted by Dolly The 26-mile route we plotted was performing live as they carried out their partly dictated by the ability of the bus weekly shop – the Facebook Live video of to navigate the streets, car parks and this went viral, reaching 150,000 views stops, but also heavily influenced by the and still increasing. location of venues we’d worked with and wider community relationships we were “Being on the top deck of a double initiating. decker bus with your whole team, Dolly Parton, Elvis, an amazing drag Our plan of working with walkabout performers and volunteers to draw queen and twenty volunteers all attention to Back to Ours was based on a singing ‘Proud Mary’ and dancing model we’d used to promote February’s while people on the streets wave festival. In other locations (North Point and cheer...one of those moments Shopping Centre, Kingswood Shops and where you step out of yourself and Hessle Road) we had teams on the ground ask, am I really here? Just fun and who were distributing information prior to the arrival of the bus. Performers would brilliant, the first time in ages my warm up the crowds in anticipation of the cheeks have ached from smiling too bus arriving. much.”

– Chrissie Lewis, Communications and “We realised that we didn’t have Marketing Manager enough time to travel and stop in ROUTE AND VENUES: every area, and that in some places Our aim was to be seen across the city; there just wasn’t a safe set down we wanted to be off the bus and on the point for our cargo of performers ground in busy areas making as much and volunteers. So, we selected noise as possible, handing out information certain, less accessible locations and talking to people while our artists as ‘drive-bys’, where the bus would performed. pass by and we’d have a team of staff, volunteers and performers on the ground for a number Asda Kingswood Superstore of hours spreading the Back to Ours message Orchard Park Road independently of the bus. North Point Shopping Centre We met some fantastic people along the route and seeing Dolly Parton

Holderness Road strutting down the aisles of Asda belting out the Newland Avenue classic 9 to 5 was a personal highlight!”

Annandale Road – Nesta Nelson, Administrator

Hull Paragon Interchange

Walker Street

Hessle Road

Back to Ours Launch Bus Route

8 STATISTICS In addition to the strong number of in- 3,940 person engagements we received a huge People engaged and positive response to our Dolly and through live Elvis videos on Facebook Live, completely performance surpassing our expectations of the day. Along the route we encountered contrasting areas of high and low footfall. We anticipated that some areas would be less busy due to the time of day, 1,200 particularly on Hessle Road towards the BBC Radio end of the shopping day. The route we listeners planned was going to take us clockwise around the city, but we reversed this and travelled anti-clockwise to ensure that we were at North Point Shopping Centre and Kingswood Shops in the early afternoon, when we would encounter more people. 79,900 From experience we expected those Dolly and Elvis likes, locations to be quieter later in the day shares and comments When it comes to areas such as Greatfield Shops and Kingswood Asda, we don’t have a history of delivering projects, so for us these areas were relative unknowns. In these areas we’ll need to work harder to develop audiences, but this provides us with an initial connection. 201,300 Dolly and Elvis Facebook “One of the main challenges for me Live views on the launch day was to balance the needs of our filmmakers with the demands of delivering a live event. Creating a film helps us with future engagement, but 3,846 in the moment it’s hard not to Website hits just prioritise our live performers and audiences on the day. The filmmakers’ need for quiet interview space and specific shots during an enfolding live event was really tricky and we had to work around it.’ – Claire Drury, Producer and Programme Manager

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CONCLUSIONS AND KEY • Making a short documentary film of LEARNING the whole project at the same time as delivering a complex event is difficult Some of the key learning from the launch to balance and can present conflicting event includes: interests; • Delivering events is part of our practice • An event risk register would be useful as a team. They’re an opportunity to when deciding whether to deliver a be hands-on and close to artists and project or activity. The register would audiences, rather than office-based; look to assess how much risk an • Flexibility in the delivery of projects is audience member might have to take an essential quality for Back to Ours; to engage. Potential risks to consider could include: • An in-person approach enables relationships to be developed • We have no history working in this with members of the public and area; conversations can become direct • Ticket prices are too high; learning. This approach enables us to work with artists in a way which means • The event is not a priority for our they become part of the Back to Ours audiences; family; • Marketing information does not • We acknowledge that the focus of this communicate clearly; launch was on performance. Moving • The venue is remotely located; forward we have allocated specific areas for investment (visual arts, • Other nearby events are taking literature and dance) to promote a place on the same day; broader arts platform and to work with • Programming is more suited to our a variety of artists and skills, not just tastes than to the tastes of our performance; audience; • Taking acts out to people and being • Does an act or piece of art have visible on the streets removes a political agenda which might barriers to engagement with the disconnect the audience? arts; particularly architectural and • Being mobile, rather than fixed in geographical barriers. There’s less risk a locality or to a venue, enables us attached as people aren’t committing to make local connections. We can money, persuading friends or family approach our work like a travelling to attend or making journeys to circus. experience it, as it’s free. In doing this we’re trying to switch around the “Another way of looking at the feeling of ‘this is not for me’; launch would be as a Secret Gig • We need to apply the approach of escaping the social club and taking removing barriers to other art forms, to to the streets of Hull.” enable people to engage without risk; – Thom Freeth, Producer • Familiar acts of a high quality enable new audiences to tune in to what we’re doing. Sometimes these acts involve elements of nostalgia. We feel that this is a useful way of winning recognition and trust amongst new audiences, so we can then offer less familiar work which maintains that high quality, delivered under the Back to Ours brand. Variety in this sense gives our artistic programme its strength;

10 THANK YOU We want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and support which enabled us to deliver such a successful launch event: Adele Adderley-Foster Andy Train Bailey La Creame BBC Humberside Bud Sugar Chris Pearson Davy, Kristin and Cat McGuire Debbie Peacock and the team at GRIN Fools Paradise Frank and Anne Eardley Geoff Brown, Kingswood Asda Jean and Morag, The Tea Ladies Jerome Whittingham John E Wright Louise Smith and the team at North Point Shopping Centre Meg and Graham Reedier Nanci Yates and Jaxon Nanna Jean and Little Gracie The Bodyguards. Jerome Whittingham, 2018. Neil Holmes Pete Binns Pete the Parrot Rhys, Claire, Dave and the team at EYMS Ruth Bean Sodium Tare Kagbala, Ruby and Charlie Volunteers and Absolutely Cultured’s volunteering team

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST The Back to Ours Open-Top Tour playlist can be found on Spotify - just search ‘Back to Ours’.

11 Secret Gig. Jerome Whittingham, 2018.

The Coral. Jerome Whittingham, 2018. Launch Day. Neil Holmes, 2018.

Casus. Jerome Whittingham, 2018. 2 Back to Ours Festival Report Festival highlights

Back to Ours began its life as a festival, MAY 2017 as part of Hull UK City of Culture 2017. It set out to programme national and The second festival landed during a busy international quality touring work in time of (particularly music) events during City neighbourhoods across Hull during of Culture, so the challenge was to give the festival a loud enough presence amongst all half-term holidays. of the other cultural offerings. FEBRUARY 2017 Ockham’s Razor performed the mesmerising Our first festival included; Roald Dahl- Tipping Point which tested the festival themed Picture House screenings, political team’s ability to deliver productions of scale comedian Mark Thomas’ The Red Shed, in unconventional spaces; in this case the Shake Shake Theatre’s gorgeous puppet venues were sports halls at Winifred Holtby show The Story of Mr B, and a stunning and Sirius Academy West. performance by Ceri Dupree, setting the “Tipping Point required the biggest standard of high expectations for our Secret Gigs in spite of a late start due to demand on time, planning and hire Storm Doris. supplies compared to those events programmed previously and trialled Following an injury, we had to cancel two gigs with our band The Pigeon Detectives, the first, and only, Back to Ours but they took to the stage later in the tour of a larger-scale event across week at The Freedom Centre, turning this two venues. Although working Preston Road theatre into an amazing gig in two spaces of similar size and space. infrastructure, adaptations were We wondered whether local audiences required in liaison with the artistic would buy tickets, and by the end we company to get the best results from realised that the majority of our attendees each venue separately and yet, ideally, came from arts-engaged areas of Hull. still able to be contained as one This festival helped us to build trust with our partner venues, as well as an touring package. The hire equipment The Pigeon Detectives. administrative and logistical framework for itself is routinely stretched around Josh Moore, 2017. the delivery of future festivals. this time of year amongst festivals nationally, but both the creative resilience of the festival team and the involved external companies’ commitment to quality ensured the success of the event. Events of a similar scale in Back to Ours’ festivals have since required more specific venue features and set-up times making it practically impossible to move across venues, however some partner venues’ enthusiasm could encourage a future large-scale tour undertaking.” – Carys Tavener, Production Manager

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Local bands we programmed into North touring show called Pillow Fight), local Point Shopping Centre became a challenge playwright Tom Well’ new play Drip, and to sell tickets for, which prevented us joyfully interactive performances of Untied from fully testing the space as a unique Theatre’s The Boy Who Bit Picasso. music venue. This North Point Shopping Centre hosted Black became an influential Grape (featuring Shaun Ryder), a band lesson for future name which confirmed our commitment music programming. to this venue as a gig space. The band We started informal commented on the brilliant sound quality conversations and in their feedback our audiences with people at our agreed. We handed out festival flyers as music gigs and they the audience left the venue; this was to began to contribute build festival awareness in Bransholme, suggestions for the but also to make them aware the gig was next festival’s gig. part of a larger programme in the hope Picture House sales they’d attend another event with friends or grew in May and our family. audiences dressed One gig-goer, Rob, has now joined a Back up for the occasion to Ours Hub to advise us on programming, with screenings of community engagement and projects, The Lion King and based on his experience of the festival. Grease Sing-A-Long, but these events ”I wanted to join the Back to Ours were let down by low Hub after I saw all the helpers at an quality wrap-around event on Bransholme where I live Picture House workshop. performances. We attributed the lower Jerome Whittingham, audience attendances during the October and I thought that if outsiders can 2018 festival to this. put so much effort in to helping my local community then why can’t I? Our partner venues challenged us over the success of the Hull 2017 ticketing And I did, and I feel so much more process we were using and our marketing fulfilment for doing so.” strategy’s ability to connect with and – Rob, Bransholme Community Hub attract local audiences. Member OCTOBER 2017 FEBRUARY 2018 We trialled new ticketing processes by The final festival as part of Hull 2017 was a asking the William Gemmell Club to sell chance to pull together a lot of the learning half of the tickets to the Secret Gig behind we’d gathered so far and to push ourselves the bar, which meant that audience in the way we engage companies to make members from the Gemmell who weren’t work with participatory elements. online could book and pay using cash. We learnt how not to programme and We launched ticket sales in the Hull deliver a Secret Gig, as the comedy show Interchange with Rainbow Stilt Walkers, we booked for this gig was memorably a DJ, Bandanarama and the Tea Ladies underwhelming for the regular Gemmell supporting our team of enthusiastic attendees. Remote ticketing machines volunteers, turning a rainy January day were installed at The Freedom Centre and into another lively and surprising moment North Point Shopping Centre, but lacked for commuters in a City of Culture. Our the human interaction which we felt was audience engagement plan saw street necessary. The machines encountered performers hitting the Hull streets - Hessle technical issues, gathered dust and Road, Holderness Road, Newland Avenue became an embarrassing emblem of and at North Point Shopping Centre - each everything that we felt the festival was not weekend in the run up to the festival, about. talking to shoppers about the festival. Elsewhere the festival felt like it was In addition to Reverend and The Makers, bedding-in successfully, with beautiful we announced a second gig with Carl Barât larger-scale productions of Upswing’s just one week from the start of the festival, Bedtime Stories (supported by a smaller giving us additional press coverage and a

16 second on-sale opportunity. We sold these tickets with a remote box office at North Point Shopping Centre and found that multiple festival events were being booked by the same people. Reverend and The Makers became the first BSL interpreted music gig at Back to Ours. We worked with Lost in Translation Circus as they transformed their outdoor production, Hotel Paradiso, into an indoor show in the atrium of Archbishop Sentamu Academy. The performance was complete with a jazz band, street performers, a volunteer cast of 1930s hotel guests and a group of talented young performers taking on the role of bell-boys and bell-girls, all of which combined to offer an incredible and unique audience experience. Targeted engagement in the Preston Road area, using a 1930s Rolls Royce Phantom III, a team of volunteers and ticket offers, combined with our cast of young people at Archbishop Sentamu Academy, led us to attract a local audience we’d not engaged previously. The festival programme aimed to appeal more broadly, and included The Amazing Bubbleman and Talegate Theatre Company’s The Giant’s Loo Roll. Talegate Theatre sell their pantomimes at The Freedom Centre out every year.

Hotel Paradiso. Josh Moore, 2018.

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May 2018 Festival Context: Transitioning from City of Culture

Back to Ours festival took place from Delivering the festival as part of Back to Tuesday May 29 to Sunday June 3 2018, Ours CPP meant a complete change in during the school half-term holiday. It is internal processes, such as finance, HR and the first to be wholly produced by Back to contracting to those used under Hull 2017. Ours: Creative People and Places (CPP) in It also meant building our social media Hull, albeit with 3 full-time staff who had following, ticket booker contacts and our previously delivered the festival when it marketing strategy from scratch, with a was produced by Hull 2017. smaller level of marketing support. Part of the challenge in delivering this We continued to work with Hull 2017 festival was to balance a sense of volunteers who provide an invaluable continuity whilst emphasising we’re now commitment, enthusiasm and support to a Back to Ours CPP project, not part of our events. On the reverse side, the bright Hull 2017. We decided to maintain the volunteer uniform also serves to link Back look of the brochure with a few minor to Ours to Hull 2017 in the eyes of our adjustments. We promoted the project audiences, which means that the public as one of the legacies of the Hull UK can sometimes mistakenly attribute credit City of Culture 2017 programme, but (or blame) for an event to Hull 2017. were keen to ensure that people knew we were part of a wider programme of PARTNER VENUES Hubs, commissions and events; a way of The following venues hosted events as engaging communities, but independent part of the Back to Ours festival during the of City of Culture. The Back to Ours re- May half-term (venues highlighted in bold branding helped this process, but even are new venues): following the festival we’re aware there’s still a lot to be done to build awareness • ; May Festival. of Back to Ours as an independent • North Bransholme Community Centre; organisation and a CPP. Jerome Whittingham, 2018 • North Point Shopping Centre; Each festival is unique. May • St. Aidan’s Church; 2018 was the fifth Back to Ours festival and was the second • The Avenues Centre; to take place during the May • The Freedom Centre; half-term holiday. Learning has been carried over from • The Octagon; each festival into the next, but • William Gemmell; some key factors, e.g. ticket booking behaviour, availability of • . specific types of shows, venue The venues sit on a spectrum of availability and local variations connectedness to the locality and nearby can change significantly. Learning audiences. Most venues share a common from one festival often feels like goal to connect with local people, to more of an indicator of what broaden their user base and to increase was happening in that moment, public visibility and, in some cases, rather than a solid framework to understanding. Some venues are less build around for future festivals. connected with the communities living As a team, we have to be around them. Knowing this enables us prepared to be responsive and to target our marketing and engagement to change plans if something strategy in a way which does connect us doesn’t work as well as it has in directly with potential local audiences. the past.

18 We’ll often take advice from partner have to be aware of potential safeguarding venues in relation to where we should issues with the crossover of students and go to engage local audiences, as this public in communal areas. is sometimes not at the venue itself. Venues have their own annual cycle and Sometimes this promotional work will be over time we can predict when might about building awareness of the venue as be a difficult time for specific venues to a festival space, as well as promoting the host festival events. The Freedom Centre The Coral. shows taking place there. hosts a dance festival during much of the Jerome Whittingham, 2018 February half-term, and May half-term can often be a difficult time for Academies to be involved due to their spaces being used for interventions and exam preparations. New venues in different neighbourhoods have provided the opportunity for us to re-imagine the process we use to connect with local people, and they inevitably present new challenges to building venue and festival brand awareness. For example, sales at North Bransholme Community Centre for performances of Handa’s Surprise were low in the run up to the festival. Through conversations with the venue we promoted the performances to the neighbouring primary school, children’s centre and health centre. By the time of the festival sales were still relatively low, though they increased during the week. We know that developing an audience for the festival in this area is going to require the support of the Back to Ours hubs, “The manager at William Gemmell relationship building in that area, ticket is able to advise us very clearly offers and a deeper understanding of on what the expectations and social issues at play in the area. behaviours of their regular PROGRAMMING customers are at a performance The May festival programme featured the event. At the Secret Gig regular following programming strands: Gemmell customers want to sit in their usual seat and will arrive early Variety/Comedy: Secret Gig (18years+) to do so. Their expectation is of a Circus: Driftwood by Casus (6years+) full evening of entertainment. These Cinema: Picture House (Animation and limitations or the rules of a space in science workshops for children followed relation to their users are essential by a screening of either Song of The Sea for us to understand in order to be or Kubo and The Two Strings; finished able to plan a successful festival off with a premier screening of a short film featuring characters made during event.” the animation workshop). This event – Thom Freeth, Producer is produced in association with Hull Independent Cinema. It’s essential for the Back to Ours team to tune into the functionality of a venue Children’s Theatre: Handa’s Surprise & The building, e.g. knowing when the regular Little Gardener (2years+) fire alarm test is, whether the windows Music: The Coral (14years+) will automatically open at a certain temperature, if a movement sensitive light can be switched off, who can adjust the thermostat settings, and the behaviour of people within the building, e.g. during half term in Academies interventions with students often take place, meaning we 19 Back to Ours / Festival report

In the past, the programme has included AGE GUIDANCE theatre for older audiences, spoken word and multiple bands. Originally the festival Age guidance and restrictions are passed was designed to be split across three on to us by visiting companies. We compass points of Hull and every show often try to standardise these and will would tour into each area, meaning that sometimes negotiate them to better fit audiences would not have to travel far to our audiences. For certain shows, e.g. see work. As the project’s progressed, it’s Drip and Driftwood, the show imagery become an accepted fact that some shows and messaging conflicted with our age cannot travel because of specific technical guidance, meaning we’ve had younger and space requirements; a circus show can audience members attending than would often only be set up in one space for the be suitable for these shows. In a positive week because of its scale and complexity. way, this indicates that parents are looking at the festival as being welcoming and The programme is defined by the a suitable festival for families to attend. availability of touring shows; of the However, we probably need to be clearer spaces our venues are able to offer and in telling people why a show is unsuitable an understanding of how they’ll suit the for certain ages, whether that be a loud audiences we’ve engaged so far, and how soundtrack unsuitable for babes in arms they might appeal to new ones. accompanying a circus piece, or occasional ACCESS PERFORMANCES strong language. The Secret Gig is specifically advertised as an over 18s event Back to Ours has a commitment to making and so far we have not had any younger its events welcoming and increasingly bookers attempting to attend, so this isn’t accessible to wider audiences. We have occurring in every area of the festival. focussed on building audiences in each festival across two specific access strands: AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT, Relaxed Performances and British Sign MARKETING AND TICKETING Language interpreted performances. A The key elements of our festival marketing relaxed performance is intended to be and communications strategy include: sensitive to, and accepting of, audience members who may benefit from a more • Print distribution (including festival relaxed environment, including - but not brochure, show specific flyers and limited to - those with autistic spectrum posters); conditions, sensory and communication • On-sale events; disorders, or learning disabilities. • Social media and blogger promotion; In the May 2018, festival we piloted BSL- hosted events. Where the show itself is • Press & Media coverage; predominantly non-verbal, we work with • Hub groups; our interpreter to meet and welcome BSL attendees in the foyer to give them • Remote box offices and promotional a sign language interpreted introduction events. to the event and inform them of any key We hosted our on sale event at North Point audio elements of the show. The signer Shopping Centre. Volunteers, a DJ and will then be on hand during and after the walkabout performance act, Sasha’s Disco, show should any further interpretation be helped us to draw attention to the remote required. box office and festival ticket sales launch. In May 2018, the uptake of BSL We chose North Point Shopping Centre due performances dropped, indicating more to its high footfall and status as a partner work needed to engage audiences venue. following the transfer of the festival Tickets for the festival went on sale for from Hull 2017 to Back to Ours CPP. in-person bookers at 10am, and, unlike Attendances specifically for the Relaxed on previous sales launches, we went on Performance events were not high, sale online simultaneously. We planned but general attendance was good. to situate remote box offices in different Since the February festival we had an areas across the city on the following increase in people notifying us of access Saturdays in the run up to the festival, requirements, perhaps indicating that and we held back tickets for all events in people trusted that access provisions have those areas, to ensure local bookers had been considered festival-wide. priority access to tickets for events in their

20 area when they booked in person. Sales in For some events in the future, it may be person were much lower than on previous advisable for tickets and the website to occasions, and sales online were strong for include the running time so that bookers some events including the Secret Gig and can be fully informed about the duration The Coral. of an event. This would not always be possible, but for children’s performances This led us to rethink our approach for this could enable families to better plan remote ticketing. Rather than selling their visit to the festival and could help to tickets in different areas, we decided to set expectations where a performance is set up a regular box office run by Hull shorter for a younger audience. Box Office staff and operating from the Welcome Pod in Hull TICKET PRICING Interchange. Our thinking was that the Interchange would offer our Typically tickets range from £2.50 to remote box office a regular slot £10 per person for a Back to Ours event. each Saturday, with more footfall The partner venues were consulted in than if it was positioned less visibly setting the prices and we agreed that in a different café or shop near tickets needed to be affordable to families one of our venues. We hoped that and people with low incomes. We also being situated at the Interchange agreed that we didn’t want to set the would mean we could interact with price of the events so low that people people travelling to all areas of the might assume that the event itself had no city. Our remote box office was quality or value. We were also keen that joined by volunteers and walkabout ticket prices are simple to understand. performers to draw attention to the Following feedback from partner venues, festival. Footfall at the Interchange we’re looking at other ways to target our was steady, but this failed to prices to specific communities who we translate into ticket sales and the want to engage as audience members, remote box office only sold a small but who may find our prices excessive. We number of tickets. are researching the best way to be able to offer a Pay What You Can or Pay What You For our final remote box office Want scheme for selected performances in event, we took giant games to the next festival. The Little Gardener. North Point Shopping Centre and our Jerome Whittingham, 2018. volunteers engaged people in games of SHOW TRAILERS giant dominos and giant Jenga along with One Hub member recently told us: ‘I don’t a conversation about the festival. This was get as much of a sense of the show from a success in building awareness of the the images compared to when I watch festival, but did not translate into sales on a trailer.’ This perfectly sums up the the day. challenge we face: how do you persuade All our ticketing was handled by the people to try an event and pay money local independent company Hull Box to attend if you can only use an image? Office (HBO), which meant that online (And within our brochure there’s only one bookers would buy tickets through the small image per event). We recognise the HBO website. Any ticket buyers who copy we are using, which is often provided had previously booked using the Hull by the visiting company, may not be 2017 website would need to use this suitably clear for our audiences. We feel different system. Our partner venues had that, in the arts, we need to get better previously raised the issue of the complex at setting expectations and expressing booking process online. This is something what an event is through the words we we need to streamline by making better use. Often, performance trailers don’t use of the Back to Ours website and linking convey the true quality of a live show. through to HBO’s booking pages. Through the Hubs we need to improve on building trust, arranging ‘go see’ visits to TICKET INFORMATION shows, and encouraging word of mouth Tickets for the festival included the door recommendations for particular events. opening times, which led to confusion amongst some bookers who were arriving earlier as they thought this was when the event started.

21 Back to Ours / Festival report

NEW VENUE TICKET SALES support the professional development of event staff based in Hull. The core Back In three of our new venues ticket sales to Ours team supports Event Managers for specific events were low, including where necessary, and are often on site to Picture House at The Octagon and Handa’s pick up on any learning at specific events Surprise at St Aidan’s Church and North or venues. Bransholme Community Centre. This indicates that each new venue would Show reports provide us with an benefit from a bespoke marketing and opportunity to understand the event engagement strategy focussed around the through the Event Manager’s eyes. target audience for the events taking place This report updates us on the number there. of attendees, notes from the company, venue, volunteers and any improvements PRODUCTION which can or should be made to improve HPSS continued to provide the technical the event. support for the festival and delivered this Currently we use Hull 2017 volunteers to to a high standard. Some venues have support our events. Whilst the volunteers more technical resources than others, are often incredibly enthusiastic and though we predominantly hire in all of helpful, their presence in bright blue the technical equipment we require to uniforms imply that our events are Hull ensure a smooth set-up for each festival 2017 or Absolutely Cultured events, a event. Through their work with us on confusion we are keen to overcome. each festival, HPSS have built up a strong working relationship with the Back to Ours CATERING Production Manager and a good practical Some partner venues, such as The knowledge of our partner venue spaces. Freedom Centre and North Bransholme EVENT STAFFING Community Centre, have catering on site for the public to use. Where a venue One of the major challenges for the does not have catering facilities we have festival is to connect the venue staff, created an offer called Snack to Ours. This visiting company, production company and is essentially a tuck shop or pop up bar, volunteers. We employ Event Managers which serves audiences snacks and drinks Secret Gig. to deliver this aspect of the project on the at our events. The May 2018 festival Jerome Whittingham, 2018 day of the event and are keen to work to is the first time we have tried this out

22 in a branded and structured way. Food items were sold at an affordable price (for example, a small packet of biscuits was 20p and a bottle of juice was 50p). It is important that snacks and drinks are available at each event to keep the festival offer and the expectations of those attending consistent between venues. MONITORING AND EVALUATION PROCESSES Previously Back to Ours festival monitoring and evaluation was carried out in line with Hull 2017’s requirements, which were rigid and target-driven. In an attempt to move away from this approach and to gather information which could help us to understand our audiences and deliver a more bespoke festival, we initiated Chat to Ours. This involves a small team of three dedicated volunteers with a strong understanding of the project, asking a few simple questions in passing to audiences before and after specific events. The Chat to Ours team are empowered and trusted to be able to change the question to fit the individual they’re talking to. The volunteers are not in uniform and all are friendly and approachable. Their interactions are shaped by the individual and not heavily scripted, enabling our audiences to respond more freely, honestly and in a more nuanced way about their experience of Back to Ours. The volunteers understand the project but are keen to look for ways to improve it, meaning they are perfectly placed for this role. Snack to Ours. More statistical information is gained Jerome Whittingham, through the ticket booking process, 2018 including the booker’s postcode which can help us to understand whether we’re engaging people from an arts-engaged or more disengaged area. This information also tells us how far people will travel for our events. In the future we’ll also be able to understand whether repeat bookers are attending the festival. There were 33 events in total during the May 2018 festival, resulting in a total of 1,956 attendances.

23 Back to Ours / Festival report

Statistics

Average Number of Show name Attendance % events Driftwood 90% 4 Handa’s Surprise 59% 15 Picture house: Song of the 24% 3 Sea Picture house: Kubo and 21% 3 the Two Strings Secret Gig 100% 1 The Coral 100% 1 The Little Gardener 62% 6

Attendances were strong for The Coral, The capacity of each festival depends on Driftwood and the Secret Gig. Across the shows programmed and the size of the previous festivals, circus shows, the band venues. The February 2018 festival was and the Secret Gig are popular amongst our most successful festival in terms of bookers and perform strongly at the box attendances, but also included a number of office. Our children’s and family shows - events with a larger capacity, including two Handa’s Surprise and The Little Gardener music gigs at North Point Shopping Centre. - had good average attendances, but some Feeling that the festival had become more performances were fully attended and established with engaged audiences by others were poorly attended, indicating February 2018, we took the opportunity the need for additional community to work with smaller community spaces engagement work to be carried out in which were new to us and were situated those areas. Picture House attendances in areas where we could seek to develop were particularly low, which was attributed relationships with new audiences. to the programming of films which were less familiar. A small number of non-attendances were reported in our show reports, but these had fallen when compared to previous festivals, particularly when it came to the band at North Point Shopping Centre.

24 Conclusion and Key Learning

Ticket % of Total • Sales were slower for this festival, but • New venues require nurturing, support Booker’s Quantity slow sales are currently also being and we need to distance ourselves Postcode Booked experienced by other arts organisations from the assumptions we hold based in Hull; on knowledge gathered over the past HU1 0.3% festivals. We need to acknowledge the • The new Back to Ours identity needs challenge of building venue awareness HU2 0.0% time to bed in and further efforts to amongst audiences and take into raise awareness of this need to be account any history a venue may have HU3 13.8% undertaken; in a particular area. We also need to HU4 3.0% • With so many variables, comparing one bear in mind that regular attendees festival to another festival and drawing HU5 23.7% to a venue may behave in a particular out learning has to be carried out in a way towards events in that venue (e.g. HU6 3.7% measured way. Certain learning only booking habits may be last minute and applies to specific festivals due to the in person rather than in advance and HU7 9.0% context. Risk taking and continued online); experimentation is key to keeping the HU8 8.2% • There is a reliance on personal festival fresh; HU9 7.5% relationships and trust with venue • Remote box offices have not proved as partners. To overcome challenges HU10 3.1% successful for the May 2018 festival collaboratively we must build resilient, but selling tickets from the bar at mutual and long-term relationships; HU11 1.9% William Gemmell continues to be a • Picture House workshops are seen successful approach. More signposting HU12 3.0% as a valuable asset to the festival and local ticket availability is required; HU13 4.6% but impact heavily on resources in • On the ground promotional work feels relation to an unpredictable uptake by HU14 1.1% essential and opens up opportunities audiences. for conversations with new audience HU15 2.6% members and breaks down barriers; HU16 4.7% • Given that some of our performances HU17 4.9% cannot travel, we need to look carefully at how we can encourage and support HU18 0.3% audiences to try new venues and experiences beyond their local venue; HU19 0.0% • Back to Ours is challenged with HU20 0.6% establishing new partnerships which Other 4.0% are better tailored to a post-2017 environment and cultural ecology, whilst maintaining and developing The most engaged areas for existing partnerships. Existing venues bookers are HU5, HU3, HU7, may require a fresh partnership to be HU8 and HU9. brokered, particularly where leadership teams have changed; • Being responsive and reactive when it comes to challenges is perceived to be an important part of delivery for the Back to Ours team. We need to continue to examine conventional thinking in delivery of arts and culture, and trial new approaches in engagement. 25 Back to Ours / Festival report

THANK YOU Abbi Ramsden Anna Plant Back to Ours Event Managers BFI Community Hubs Dean Shakespeare Revolver Under the Influence HPSS Hull Box Office Hull Independent Cinema Hymers College Meg, Graham and Kate North Bransholme Community Centre North Point Shopping Centre Roger and Rita Smile Foundation St. Aidan’s Church, Lane The Freedom Centre Volunteers & Hull 2017 Volunteering Team William Gemmell Winifred Holtby Academy

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