The EAFN sent out a survey to over 30 of our East Anglian Festival, Fair and Funday organisers in Jan 2020 to gather data about attendances and the benefits of our region’s events to the local community and economy. Event Organisers were asked to provide their attendance figures, how much their event raised for charity and the local community, and any other information on the positive impact of Festivals in East Anglia. The results are in the summary below.
A new survey is now underway – Event Organisers – Please email us at office@eafn.co.uk for the link or find it on our private social media groups at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1998613527074686 and https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8697996/
Summary:
The 34 EAFN Festivals surveyed had over 200,000 attendees over 74 days and raised over £1 million for charities and community groups.
The Survey was completed by around 5% of the total events in our region (700) so by a straight multiplication by 20, it is estimated that our region’s Festivals, Fairs and Fundays raise over £20 Million for Charity and the local Community. This is just local fundraising and the benefits to the local economy are considerably more. The UK figure for the Event Industry is around £40 Billion – our region is around 6% of the population so we would be around £2.4 Billion! This looks to be about right as Visit East of England tell us that Tourism is worth 10 billion in just Norfolk and Suffolk. We haven’t carried out a comprehensive regional survey on this yet but we know that the Suffolk Show on its own is 25 million and the smaller Art Eat 250k!
The Organisers highlighted many other benefits their events bring to the region (listed seperately below)
Benefits of our region’s events to the local community and economy
Supports and promotes local Breweries, Street Food, Music and Artists. Promotes local charities – as well as raising money for them we involve them in the festival – this also gives them a platform to educate. Community involvement. Promote sustainability from water refills to recycling. Close knit volunteer team. Opportunity for families to enjoy a small festival for the first time.
Provides free family friendly entertainment for local people. Activities include local and international music acts with a firework display. Local dance acts from schools and community groups as well as a silent disco. Technology and gaming from local colleges and businesses. Science activities from the local Science Festival. Other activities from a range of Museums as well as other kids’ activities such as art workshops, a sports zone and a chance to learn some circus skills. Free entry, non-ticketed. Provided by the Council.
Promotes original music. Many thousands of pounds per year invested into the local economy. Volunteering opportunities. Lifetime memories made. Introduction and promotion of local food and drinks
Local B and Bs, hotels, shops/supermarkets benefit from the event.
Raises awareness of local charities, brings big artists to the area, promotes local business, encourages visitors from afar to visit the area and brings people together!
Opportunity to see ‘big names’ in a community which has no comparable opportunities within a 30 to 40 minute drive. Donations made to causes in the immediate local vicinity. Family friendly, safe and local introduction to festivals for young and old alike.
We use as much local produce as possible including ales, ciders, meats, ice creams and local suppliers in staging, tradesmen, PA and signage. All within 40 miles of the site. We make a donation to the local hospice and have partnered to plant trees worldwide.
Our visitors spend in local retailers, with suppliers, stay at Guesthouses and Hotels and this all benefits the local economy directly.
The event benefits the local community by educating on personal health & wellbeing, Natural health & nutritional advice and developing a positive mental attitude to life.
62.8% of our visitors come from outside of the local area where the festival is held, including other European countries.
Significant donations to Charities, Causes and Village groups every year.
Brings in a huge amount of trade that a small village would not normally have.
Paying Local artists to play.
Our festival offers great promotion for the town and its other attractions as well as to elected councils who are seen to be giving something back by supporting such events.
All stall holders are local providing income for small local artisans and producers
Local Charities working together in making this free to all event safer. New and upcoming performers getting their voices out on stage, Small business getting advertised as sponsors. We try to use local entertainers and small caterers for our event and promote the venue, which is a tourist attraction.
Promotes healthy lifestyle policy
The town is buzzing when the festival is on and families and communities young and old are brought together
Raising money for specific local venues and projects – for Rehearsal Space, Lessons, Equipment and improved Facilities especially Youth and Disabled provision.
All the bands are local artists, the bar is a local brewery, and those staying enjoy local facilities including the local Market.
Promotes the local area, facilities and surrounding business community. Supports and encourages rail travel to the festival via a rail ticket exchange scheme.
We get people to interact with locally based artists and community groups, making it a unique place for the city to celebrate, in a single day, the many and varied creative activities that people engage with all year round.
The Event is run by volunteers from all walks of life (including many people from disadvantaged backgrounds) and provides hundreds of volunteering opportunities for local residents. There are many opportunities to develop skills that have demonstrably benefited volunteers from low-income households in finding employment and developing careers.
A cornerstone of the Fair is the principle of supporting free activities for local residents of all ages. The workshops on the day and the stages will offer opportunities to young people to participate without any cost. This will allow some youngsters to try activities that they might not normally be able to afford. It is believed that the reputation of the Fair will help to attract young people who may not otherwise be engaged with leisure and cultural activities on offer through other activities and venues.
Skills and careers advice for young people
We work hard to ensure that everyone is welcome.. Free entry removes one of the most common barriers to people attending events. For our volunteers there is no financial barrier to becoming part of the committee – we cover all reasonable expenses and do not ask volunteers to cover any of the costs themselves. For fair goers we offer several ‘free’ stalls where people can swap or just take away free items such as clothes and books. We support charities who work directly with young people who are suffering from poverty or homelessness. We have developed a good relationship with a local charity who offer support for people of all ages who are homeless or have addition issues. All the children activities are free – children can have as many goes on the bouncy castles and other attractions as they like!
We work with the city’s Open Spaces team to improve access for disabled patrons, offering free on-site parking for blue badge holders and working to enhanced and make more accessible facilities for people with disabilities.
In our event management, programming and Infrastructure sub groups we welcome people to come and engage with the event as a volunteer to help to run an area or to help to build the site offering people a real work experience in a sector that is notoriously difficult to break into. Many of our volunteers from disadvantaged backgrounds go on to develop careers in the event industry with volunteers gaining paid employment with many playing important roles at other major festivals throughout the summer.
Summary:
Our 700 Festivals, Fairs and Fun Days in East Anglia (Cambs, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk) provide fun and fulfilment for around 4 million people (the equivalent of our region’s population!). In addition the events provide thousands of jobs, spark off careers, raise millions of pounds for the many charities and community groups across the four counties, and billions for the local economy with millions of tourists visiting the events.
