Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

This report provides the Executive with an overview of the outcomes of the 2021 Manchester International Festival (MIF21).

The Committee received a report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) which provided an overview of the outcomes of the 2021 Manchester International Festival (MIF21). The report provided a summary of performance against the agreed objectives and detailed the impact of the festival, based on the results of the independent evaluation. The report demonstrated how the festival delivered an inspiring programme which enabled Manchester residents and wider audiences to return to the city to enjoy arts and culture, despite the challenges and uncertainty of COVID-19.

The main points and themes within the report included:

• Context (the COVID-19 pandemic);
• Assessment of delivery of objectives for 2021, which were:
  • To continue to grow the international reputation of the Festival and the city – with artists, audiences, partners and media coverage from all five continents and from a wide variety of backgrounds – in turn driving reach for the Festival, attracting people to the city and the best staff to our team;
  • To bring the most extraordinary artists from around the world to Manchester to create diverse and inspiring new work – made in Manchester and shared across the globe;
  • To connect in new and ever deeper ways with the city and region of Manchester, increasing the range and diversity of those engaging with the Festival, with an ever more visible and transformative presence in the city; and
  • To develop the brand, profile and awareness of MIF/The Factory locally, nationally and internationally in readiness for opening.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), sustainability and financial performance;
• Zero carbon;
• Employment and skills;
• Manchester International Festival 2023; and
• Future Manchester City Council support for the Festival and The Factory.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

• The attendance figures, including how they were arrived at for free non-ticketed events and whether additional data was available on where people attending ticketed events were from;
• That neighbourhood organisers had an important role in promoting culture and making it as available as possible and were these temporary or permanent roles; and
• That more events should take place in different neighbourhoods, not just in the city centre.

John McGrath, Artistic Director and CEO of MIF, reported that the attendance figures for the non-ticketed events were based on the same methodology as had been used for events such as the Olympics and that this involved an estimate of the flow of people through the area and, for the work in Piccadilly Gardens, a visual survey of the percentage of people passing through who had stopped to look at it.  He highlighted the value of using public spaces to introduce people to the Festival and advised that this could then encourage them to attend ticketed events.  In response to the question about the breakdown of people attending ticketed events, he advised that the Audience Survey had previously been mainly carried out by email but that not everyone responded and those that did were not necessarily representative of all attendees.  He reported that this year, in addition to the email survey, face-to-face surveys had been carried out at some events, although he recognised that more work was needed to improve the data gathered, particularly ensuring that it was representative of the whole audience.  He advised that the data in the report providing a breakdown of the attendees combined data from both ticketed and free events but would be skewed towards attendees at the ticketed events.  In response to the Member’s request, he advised that he would look at whether data could be provided specifically relating to the ticketed events.  He reported that it appeared that the audience was becoming more representative of the communities in the city.  He advised that, particularly from the 2025 Festival onwards, MIF was looking at making the Festival less city centre focused and locating work in neighbourhoods, especially areas further from the city centre whose residents might not travel into the city centre, including Wythenshawe and some areas of north Manchester.

Menaka Munro, Senior Engagement Manager of MIF, reported that the three neighbourhood organisers in Manchester had been short-term roles from January to August as part of a pilot programme.  She advised that this had been very successful and that MIF had learnt a lot about the areas covered by the pilot and as well as gaining learning and feedback which would shape the model of the programme in the future.  She advised that MIF wanted to continue this work and more than double the number of neighbourhood organisers in Manchester and that the organisation was reviewing which areas of the city should be involved in this.

The Deputy Leader informed Members about work that had been taking place in the city over the past few years to widen access to and participation in cultural activities and highlighted that MIF had held activities and events outside of the city centre.  He agreed that the neighbourhood organisers’ work was important and should be continued.

In response to questions from the Chair about how the pandemic would affect the way the Festival was delivered in future and how international festivals could respond to the challenge of climate change, John McGrath outlined how MIF had taken strong steps into the digital realm from the 2017 Festival onwards.  He reported that MIF had been able to use this experience to adapt quickly in response to the pandemic, making the digital content a year-round-offer, rather than being specific to the Festival period, and both commissioning big, international artists for online projects and promoting local and up-and-coming artists.  He advised that this would now be a permanent part of MIF’s work.  He reported that, in light of climate change, international festivals were re-thinking their approach and that part of this involved having work available online.  He informed Members that consideration was also being given to air travel, sets and the impact of shipping materials for the Festival.  He advised that, although MIF did commission international artists, a lot of this involved making work in the city, for example getting artists to work with local communities over a few weeks, rather than flying them in for a couple of days for a show.  He highlighted the “What is the City but the People?” show from the 2017 Festival which had involved 100 local people and was now a touring show, advising that when it toured internationally only one person needed to travel with it as it was made with local people in the city it was visiting.   

Decision

To thank the guests from MIF for attending and for their work.