Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that Belfast 2024 had been launched officially on 29th February 2024, and had achieved significant successes across the programme so far.

            The Programme Manager advised that there had been a wide range of events, performances, and engagement throughout the city to create an extensive range of artistic and creative work, while supporting the sector to build skills and capacity as well as showcasing Belfast as a cultural destination, which included:

·        £2.7m directly invested into creative and cultural sector commissioning locally;

·        £960k to Direct Commissions and partnerships, including Little Amal, Eden Project, BBC concert, International Artist Project;

·        £0.9m towards strategic and music-based events to celebrate and embrace UNESCO City of Music designation and our music strategy;

·        800+ contracts have been created for B24 delivery within the creative sector including artists, production staff, facilitators and designers;

·        500+ workshops and events have taken place across the city with more to come by December;

·        16 artists supported on Creative Bursary programme;

·        6 International Artists working in residence with communities for 2 years with British Council partnership funding; and

·        35,000 attendees and participants to date.

            She explained that the Belfast 2024 Interim Report, November 2024, attached at Appendix 1 provided an overview of the events completed so far and outlined important feedback which had been received as part of the Evaluation Framework. The report covered the period up to end of August 2024 and provided information on:

·        Background and Strategic Context of Belfast 2024;

·        Belfast 2024 Programme Structure;

·        Belfast 2024 Programme;

·        Programme Delivery to End September;

·        Marketing and Communications Update;

·        Partnership Development and Delivery;

·        Evaluation, impact and Feedback so far; and

·        Lessons Learned and Legacy Planning.

            The Programme Manager highlighted that the evaluation findings were at an interim stage, including the statistics outlined below:

Belfast 2024 programme statistics summary to date

Feedback so far based on 600 audience/contractor surveys:

·        99 % of attendees agreed they had a good time

·        97 % agreed the activity was absorbing and held their attention

·        98 % agreed they would come to something like this again

Attendees also report:

·        98 % of attendees agreed they felt welcome and included

·        95 % agreed they felt connected to others

·        97 % agreed that they felt proud that it was happening in Belfast

Lessons learned and Legacy

            The Programme Manager informed the Committee that Belfast 2024 was, at its core, an ‘accelerator' project for the Council’s Cultural Strategy 2020-30, to create the conditions to support capacity building, test new ways of working, strengthen existing and forge new connection between cultural delivery within the Council and the wider city. The legacy of this significant project was critical to show the return on investment, to ensure lessons learnt were captured, and to embed criterial elements of the programme into ‘business as usual’.

            She pointed out that work was ongoing to capture and learn lessons both positive and negative in relation to the planning and delivery of Belfast 2024 and to consider how these could be applied to future programmes and plans, including through application of co-design models for the delivery of City events and Tourism and to ensure that there was an effective legacy from the programme. She highlighted that the emerging themes for legacy development included:

·        Informing Implementation Plan for Second Phase of Cultural Strategy A City Imagining 2025-2030;

·        Supporting the delivery of Belfast Stories, including through Our Stories Festival;

·        Supporting legacy of the projects and artists /creators; and

·        Still to come in Belfast 2024.

            The Programme Manager advised that, during Autumn, the programme continued to deliver a broad range of events, activities, workshops and participative opportunities across the city, appealing to a range of audiences from communities to visitors and international tourists, such as the City Hall Immersive Experience, Are You On The Bus, Touch, Hear, Feel premiere – an inclusive performance engaging all senses, Hearth our film of Belfast by Belfast with Mark Cousins and Belfast Film Festival and the Our Stories Festival In partnership with Belfast Stories.

            She provided an overview of the Belfast Stories Partnership – Our Stories Festival 20th – 24th November, designed in partnership with Oliver Jeffers/Jeffers Studios, Nerve Centre, and NI Science Festival as well as Ulster University, which were celebrating their 175th year. This was an exciting programme which would see the city centre come to life with a combination of talks, workshops, art installations, comedy, music and food and engagement with local communities on the future of the city – housed at City Hall, 2 Royal Avenue, Belfast Stories site and Ulster University’s new campus. Guests included Oliver Jeffers, Tim Smit – founder of Eden Project, Martin Green CBE, Hannah Peel, Ruth McCarthy and Stacey Gregg, with further names to be confirmed including Chris Packham and local artists who would lead on a series of engagements, as well as integration with a number of our Bank of Ideas projects who had come through the participatory budgeting programme.

During discussion, in response to a Member’s question in relation to the value for money per participant of each event, the Programme Manager explained that there was an error in the Boom Clap Play - Wiggle Room attendance published in the report, in that the figure for attendance of 750 was for how many people would have visited since it opened at the end of September to the report date. The actual overall figure would be calculated as a minimum of 3360 and was anticipated to increase by the 29th November, the closing date of the project.

            After discussion, the Committee noted the progress of the Belfast 2024 programme.