Festival of light to become a regular event for Durham as Lumiere is hailed as spectacular success

Producers of extraordinary live events Artichoke announced today, Wednesday 18th November, that Lumiere would become a biennial event in Durham, after at the spectacular success of the festival which took place over four consecutive nights, 12th – 15th November.

At least 75,000 people thronged the city’s streets during the festival, filling the city’s restaurants and cafes, trains and buses, and every available parking space. Staged as part of Durham’s bid for UK capital of culture in 2013, Lumiere is the largest festival of its kind to take place in the UK, and included no less than seven new commissions and more than 50 UK and international artists. Lumiere is part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke Season.

Festival highlights included the brand new commission Crown of Light, a collaboration between projection artist, Ross Ashton, composer and arranger Robert Ziegler, and sound designer John Del’Nero, whose remarkable son et lumiere projected onto the Cathedral exterior enthralled crowds. Inside the Cathedral, United Visual Artists had recreated Chorus, 8 swinging pendulums of light suspended in the Cathedral nave: thousands filed underneath this and then into the Cathedral cloisters to experience Daan Roosegaarde’s Dune, an installation of illuminated flowers turning this way and that in response to movement and sound. Durham’s dramatic architecture and landscapes were transformed by artworks and installations by Ron Haselden, FIELD, Speirs and Major Associates, Simon Corder, Creatmosphere, Mia Kosminksy, Bureau of Silly Ideas, Filament, Air Vag, Tae Gon Kim, and Tim Etchells, while French theatrical companies, Quidams and La Salamandre led magical processions through the nooks and crannies of the city’s medieval streets.

Simon Henig, Leader of Durham County Council said: “Lumiere has been a spectacular success for Durham. We are delighted that Artichoke agreed to work with us and we are now talking to them about a biennial festival of light, one that would continue to forge links with artists and communities throughout the county, up to and including 2013″.

Helen Marriage, Artistic Director of Artichoke said: “We were really delighted to have been invited to produce Lumiere in Durham. When our local co-producer David Bilton of dgb events came up with the idea of a collaboration, we were immediately inspired both by the very strong partnerships that exist within this extraordinary city as well as its wonderful architecture and landscapes.”

Durham County Council in partnership with the University and the Cathedral is rightly proud of its historic cultural heritage with the world renowned World Heritage Site. All Durham’s institutions are backing the city’s bid to win the newly designated UK City of Culture for 2013.

Artichoke’s involvement, together with principal sponsor Sky Arts, meant that an ambitious programme designed to animate every nook and cranny of the city was made possible. Sky Arts co-commissioned the Sky Walkers – living artworks that took to the streets to distribute information to passers-by. The channel will also create a series of short films following ten of the Lumiere artists, exploring the inspiration behind their installations and the technical challenges involved, as well as a 30-minute documentary of the whole event to air in December.

“We were delighted to see how Lumiere came to life on the streets of Durham,” comments John Cassy, director of Sky Arts. “We’d been following the artistic process of many of the artists involved, and so to see their work realised, and to see the thousands of people that were engaged and inspired by it, was truly exciting.”

Lumiere forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events, developed by culture10. Supported by Durham County Council, Lumiere is also a measure of Durham’s scale of commitment to developing the city’s cultural offering for its communities and visitors, underlined by the recent announcement of its intention to bid to be the first UK City of Culture in 2013.

Lumiere will air on Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts1 on Sunday 8th December at 7pm and 15th December at 6.30pm.

Editor’s Notes

Artichoke
Artichoke is a registered charity, funded by Arts Council England. Artichoke works with the best creative minds to produce extraordinary shows that live in the memory forever, and believes that the arts should take place not only behind the closed doors of theatres and art galleries, but also in public places. In May 2006, Artichoke presented the biggest piece of free theatre ever seen in the UK, Royal de Luxe’s The Sultan’s Elephant. The story of the little girl giant and the 30 foot tall elephant won the hearts of the nation and the press claimed a million people filled the streets of London to watch. In 2008 the company joined London and New York by means of Paul St George’s Telectroscope, and people gathered day and night on both sides of the Atlantic to reunite lost family members or simply to catch a glimpse of life across the pond. Also in 2008 the company mounted the flagship event for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations, with La Machine’s 50-foot high mechanical spider and her adventures in the city. And in 2009 the company has produced Antony Gormley’s 100-day long invasion of the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, One & Other.

Sky Arts has generously committed to working with Artichoke for the next two years. Their support will enable Artichoke to develop new opportunities for artists to create work across the country and new ways to delight, surprise and challenge audiences everywhere.

About Durham Festivals and Events
In 2008, Durham hosted the award-winning Enlightenment, its first-ever international light based arts festival featuring outdoor arts installations by Asian and British artists and inspired by the county’s religious and industrial heritage. 30,000 visitors saw Durham’s bridges, river, landmarks and shop fronts transformed into a stunning exhibition of light based art. BRASS: Durham International Festival is one of the world’s fastest growing festivals celebrating global brass music. Over the past three years, Durham has welcomed musicians from five continents and more than 20 countries and annual audiences in excess of 80,000 for two weeks of free street performances and big band concerts in July. At the same time, work is underway to revive the lost tradition of Mystery plays in Durham. These biblical stories are being reinterpreted through contemporary media by local Durham artists under the direction of the city’s Gala Theatre. Durham’s Book Festival attracts leading literary figures each year to celebrate the power of the written word. In 2008, the festival was headlined by best-selling authors, Kate Atkinson (Whitbread prize-winner – Behind the Scenes at the Museum) and Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe series), TV comedian, author and activist Mark Thomas, and veteran BBC War correspondent Kate Adie.

Sky Arts: On Screen, Online, Onstage, and On the Streets
Lumiere is produced as part of a major two-year sponsorship with Artichoke, the ground-breaking company that brings art to the streets of towns and cities across the UK. Sky Arts is one of the largest corporate sponsors of the arts in the UK. With four arts channels in over 9 million customer homes across the UK and Ireland, Sky Arts has doubled output to 36 hours every day of the week on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2, with Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts 2 HD offering the best programmes in glorious high definition Sky supports the arts and make them accessible off as well as on screen, to the broadest possible audience. Recent programme highlights include The Book Show – the UK’s only television programme dedicated to books, hosted by Mariella Frostrup; Songbook, a series on some of the greatest songwriters of the day; and Sky Arts Theatre Live! which saw Sky Arts return live theatre to television for the first time in twenty years.

Partners
Lumiere is produced by Artichoke in partnership with Sky Arts and with the support of Arts Council England. It is part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke season and forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events developed by culture10. The event is generously supported by Durham County Council and culture10, and a range of other sponsors and supporters including the European Union, Lumalive, JCB, Durham University and Durham Cathedral. Artichoke was invited to produce a large-scale event in Durham at the suggestion of Newcastle-based producer DGB Events.

About the City of Culture 2013 Bid
Durham’s culture bid is led by Durham County Council, in partnership with County Durham Partnership, Visit County Durham and Durham City Vision. The bid will centre around the following strands: ‘Cultural City – Cultural County’: a series of activities reconnecting the communities of the county with its capital city and vice-versa, reenergising the City as the economic, social and creative heart of the county. ‘Creative Durham’: a series of activities designed to enhance the county’s cultural life, encouraging community participation in cultural activities and promote Durham as an area where creative people can live and work. ‘Festival Durham’: an ambitious programme of events and festivals which will take Durham into the next decade, cementing its position as a true cultural destination. The new UK City of Culture competition was proposed to enable towns and cities to access the type of culture-led benefits that Liverpool achieved as European Capital of Culture in 2008. Evidence of the impact to Liverpool in 2008 can be accessed at www.impact08.net . Durham will be the first predominantly rural area to bid to take advantage of the benefits culture-led regeneration brings. Funding for the proposed bid comes from Performance Award Grant money awarded to local authorities who perform well.

About culture10
Lumiere forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events in 2009, managed by culture10. culture10 is an annual curated programme of exceptional cultural events and festivals across NewcastleGateshead and North East England. Established in 2004, it is managed by the culture10 team, funded by Newcastle City Council, Gateshead Council, One North East, Northern Rock Foundation and Arts Council England, North East, working in partnership with NewcastleGateshead Initiative. For further details see www.NewcastleGateshead.com

Contacts
For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Idea Generation: +44(0)20 7749 6850
Ellen Harrison: ellen@ideageneration.co.uk
Emily Airton: emily@ideageneration.co.uk
Artichoke website
Lumiere website
Durham City of Culture website

Entre Terre et Ciel by Airvag

A spectacular multi-sensory celebration of light fusing ancient and modern in Durham

12th – 15th November 2009

For four nights only, UK and international artists will work with light to transform Durham’s historic landmarks, city streets, gardens and riverways into a breathtaking nocturnal landscape of magical happenings.

Producers of extraordinary live events Artichoke, renowned for the spectacular successes, La Machine, The Sultan’s Elephant and Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth commission One & Other, announce their latest project – Lumiere – an ambitious and spectacular festival of light for Durham, produced in partnership with Sky Arts.

From the 12th-15th November 2009, the historic city of Durham will provide the stunning canvas for leading international and UK artists and performers to work with light, fusing together sight, sound and movement in a mesmerising series of site-specific installations, new commissions and performances.

In the tradition of the greatest international festivals of light, Lumiere will set Durham ablaze, picking out and transforming the landmarks, streets, river and bridges of the city in new and unimagined ways. Artists include the British-based collective United Visual Artists, international artists Ron Haselden, Simon Corder and Daan Roosegaarde, projection artist Ross Ashton, eminent lighting designer Mark Major, London-based studio Creatmosphere, and French theatrical magicians Quidams, with a magical performance that will lead the audience through the city streets.

Lumiere is part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke Season and forms part of North East England’s world-class programme of festivals and events, developed by culture10.

Supported by Durham County Council, Lumiere is also a measure of Durham’s scale of commitment to developing the city’s cultural offering for its communities and visitors, underlined by the recent announcement of its intention to bid to be the first UK City of Culture in 2013.

“After the success of Enlightenment last year, which attracted 30,000 visitors to the city, the potential was there to create a truly spectacular and inspirational event for Durham as part of our broader cultural offering. We asked Artichoke to produce this year’s festival because of their track record of live events that leave a lasting impression on the people and places they transform.” said Paul Gudgin, creative consultant for Durham’s UK City of Culture 2013 bid.

Artichoke is keeping the exact details of Lumiere under wraps. “The element of surprise and delight is key to what we do” said Helen Marriage, Co-director of Artichoke. “Whether we work with artists who create 50-foot high moving elephants, 42-tonne spiders or tunnels under the Atlantic, all our work is about giving the public unforgettable, magical experiences that make them look at their surroundings in a different way. Durham is a wonderful city, and we’re pleased to have been invited to produce Lumiere there.”

Culture10’s Creative Director, Stella Hall, praised the project’s ambition, saying, “Lumiere will highlight a range of locations in historic Durham this Winter, drawing in visitors and residents alike to explore the city. Audiences will enjoy encounters with many surprising and innovative artworks by a number of internationally recognised artists. Part of our region-wide festivals and events programme, which for 2009 focuses on the North East region’s Landscape & Heritage, we are delighted to be part of the development of Durham’s festival offer towards their aspiration to become UK City of Culture in 2013.”

For Sky Arts, Lumiere fits perfectly with the channel’s mission to bring the arts to the streets of towns and cities across the UK and make them accessible to the broadest possible audience. Sky Arts will produce a series of short films, following ten of the artists through the stages of concept, creation and installation of their works.

“As a North East man born and bred, I can’t wait to see Lumiere in Durham” comments Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Chief Executive. “Having heard about the plans from the Sky Arts and Artichoke teams, I know it’s going to be a spectacular event, giving people new and unexpected ways of looking at art against the backdrop of one of the UK’s most beautiful cities.”

Artichoke:

Artichoke is a registered charity, funded by Arts Council England. Artichoke works with the best creative minds to produce extraordinary shows that live in the memory forever, and believes that the arts should take place not only behind the closed doors of theatres and art galleries, but also in public places.

In May 2006, Artichoke presented the biggest piece of free theatre ever seen in the UK, Royal de Luxe’s The Sultan’s Elephant. The story of the little girl giant and the 30 foot tall elephant won the hearts of the nation and the press claimed a million people filled the streets of London to watch. In 2008 the company joined London and New York by means of Paul St George’s Telectroscope, and people gathered day and night on both sides of the Atlantic to reunite lost family members or simply to catch a glimpse of life across the pond. Also in 2008 the company mounted the flagship event for Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations, with La Machine’s 50-foot high mechanical spider and her adventures in the city. And in 2009 the company has produced Antony Gormley’s 100-day long invasion of the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, One & Other.

Sky Arts has generously committed to working with Artichoke for the next two years. Their support will enable Artichoke to develop new opportunities for artists to create work across the country and new ways to delight, surprise and challenge audiences everywhere.

Sky Arts: On Screen, Online, On stage, and On the Streets

Lumiere is produced as part of a major two-year sponsorship with Artichoke, the ground-breaking company that brings art to the streets of towns and cities across the UK. Sky Arts is one of the largest corporate sponsors of the arts in the UK.

With four arts channels in over 9 million customer homes across the UK and Ireland, Sky Arts has doubled output to 36 hours every day of the week on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2, with Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts 2 HD offering the best programmes in glorious high definition

Sky supports the arts and make them accessible off as well as on screen, to the broadest possible audience. Recent programme highlights include The Book Show – the UK’s only television programme dedicated to books, hosted by Mariella Frostrup; Songbook, a series on some of the greatest songwriters of the day; and Sky Arts Theatre Live! which saw Sky Arts return live theatre to television for the first time in twenty years.

About Durham Festivals and Events:

In 2008, Durham hosted the award-winning Enlightenment, its first-ever international light based arts festival featuring outdoor arts installations by Asian and British artists and inspired by the county’s religious and industrial heritage. 30,000 visitors saw Durham’s bridges, river, landmarks and shop fronts transformed into a stunning exhibition of light based art, presented as part of the EAST ’08 season of North East England’s world-class festivals and events programme, developed by culture10.

BRASS: Durham International Festival, another of the festivals featured in North East England’s world-class festivals and events programme, is one of the world’s fastest growing festivals celebrating global brass music. Over the past three years, Durham has welcomed musicians from five continents and more than 20 countries and annual audiences in excess of 80,000 for two weeks of free street performances and big band concerts in July.

At the same time, work is underway to revive the lost tradition of Mystery plays in Durham. These biblical stories are being reinterpreted through contemporary media by local Durham artists under the direction of the
city’s Gala Theatre, in partnership with culture10.

Durham’s Book Festival attracts leading literary figures each year to
celebrate the power of the written word. In 2008, the festival was headlined by best-selling authors, Kate Atkinson (Whitbread prize-winner – Behind the Scenes at the Museum) and Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe series), TV comedian, author and activist Mark Thomas, and veteran BBC War correspondent Kate Adie.

About the City of Culture 2013 Bid:

Durham’s culture bid is led by Durham County Council, in partnership with County Durham Partnership, Visit County Durham and Durham City Vision. The bid will centre around the following strands:

‘Cultural City – Cultural County’: a series of activities reconnecting the communities of the county with its capital city and vice-versa, re-energising the City as the economic, social and creative heart of the county. ‘Creative Durham’: a series of activities designed to enhance the county’s cultural life, encouraging community participation in cultural activities and promote Durham as an area where creative people can live and work. ‘Festival Durham’: an ambitious programme of events and festivals which will take Durham into the next decade, cementing its position as a true cultural destination.

The new UK City of Culture competition was proposed to enable towns and cities to access the type of culture-led benefits that Liverpool achieved as European Capital of Culture in 2008. Evidence of the impact to Liverpool in 2008 can be accessed at www.impact08.net . Durham will be the first predominantly rural area to bid to take advantage of the benefits culture-led regeneration brings. Funding for the proposed bid comes from Performance Award Grant, money awarded to local authorities who perform well.

About culture10:

culture10 is a unique curated programme of exceptional cultural events and festivals across the North East of England. It is managed by the culture10 team, based at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, and, in addition to regular annual and biennial events in music, film, performance and food and drink, is focused on the region’s Landscape and Heritage for 2009. Initiated in 2004, its programme has included events such as Battleship Potemkin with the Petshop Boys and La fura dels Baus on the river Tyne, as well as Durham’s first light festival Enlightenment and next year’s Mysteries. It is funded by Northern Rock Foundation, Gateshead Council, Newcastle Council, One North East and Arts Council England North East.

Partner organisations:

As well as the partnerships with Sky Arts, Durham County Council and culture10, Lumiere is sponsored by a variety of other organisations, including the European Union, National Express (trains), Marriott Hotels and JCB Ltd. Artichoke is working with Newcastle-based producer DGB Events to deliver the event, which also receives support from partners including Durham City Vision, the University of Durham and Durham Cathedral.

Contacts:

For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Idea Generation: +44(0)20 7749 6850
Ellen Harrison: ellen@ideageneration.co.uk
Emily Airton: emily@ideageneration.co.uk
Artichoke website
Lumiere website
Durham City of Culture website

In a world first KMA create a stunning large-scale game of lights across the North East from 29th October to 1st November 2009 (17.30 – late).

Gateshead, Sunderland and Middlesbrough to host ground breaking interactive game from digital pioneers KMA.

As part of the Bupa Great North Run Cultural programme, digital pioneers KMA have been commissioned to create a world first: a huge, participatory, high-tech athletics tournament. Taking place simultaneously in three North East locations; Gateshead, Sunderland and Middlesbrough each area will compete against the other across four nights.

Projected light and thermal-imaging technology are used to create jaw-dropping interactive playing arenas in which human movement triggers spectacular light effects. The physical movements of players determine the outcome of the games, which will run on ten-minute cycles. Participants develop their game-playing skills as they progress through a number of levels to help their area to victory or to simply have fun.

Audiences in each of the three locations can take part in the games, which are played on ‘courts’ created by projected light; each court comprising a central playing area and two zones representing the other two locations. Balls of light appear from the centre of each court – these projected images can be moved by players physically ‘touching’ them. The aim of the first game is for each location to gain points by moving as many balls as possible to the other locations. Games last 90 seconds and 5 games make a series – through which the games increase in complexity as players become more familiar with the rules. The town or city with the most points at the end wins.

KMA’s mission is to apply leading digital innovation to large-scale live environments in order to expand the audiences’ experience of the work beyond the physical environment in which it is presented. Great Street Games will light up iconic locations across the North East but the aim of the work is to illuminate and animate the people of the region not the buildings.

Beth Bate, Cultural Programme Manager commented; “The Cultural Programme is all about getting people inspired and involved and Great Street Games does just that. This is a world first that takes art and sport to the streets. We’re also encouraging a bit of friendly rivalry across the North East. Just like the Bupa Great North Run, it’s active, it’s outdoors and it’s spectacular but you don’t have to be an experienced runner to take part – but the more you play, the better you’ll get!”

Great Street Games will take place in Baltic Square, Gateshead, Centre Square, Middlesbrough and The Old Fire Station, Sunderland.

Visit www.greatstreetgames.org.uk for updates and more information

The Bupa Great North Run Cultural Programme:

The Bupa Great North Run Cultural Programme is an annual series of artistic commissions, across artforms which respond to the Bupa Great North Run and celebrate sport and art. The commissions offer new perspectives and insights into the people that take part in the event, the journeys people undergo, the geography and landscape of the famous route, and the spirit of the event.

Established in 2005 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Run, the Cultural Programme has developed an impressive track-record exploring the unique partnership between art and sport. Previous visual art commissions include film, music, painting, drawing, photography, writing and mass participation projects, from artists including Jane and Louise Wilson, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Michael Nyman, Graham Dolphin, Claire Morgan, and writers including David Almond and Bill Bryson amongst others.

Contacts:
For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Idea Generation: +44(0)20 7749 6850
Ellen Harrison: ellen@ideageneration.co.uk
Emily Airton: emily@ideageneration.co.uk
Great Street games website

Durham bids to be UK City of Culture 2013 – The North East’s best kept cultural secret.
Embargoed until 10th September.

“For passion, creativity, an array of peerless assets and attractions and a palatable sense of community, Durham really is the perfect place.” Bill Bryson

A UNESCO World Heritage Site; home to stunning ancient architecture in the form of its Cathedral and University; host to renowned art events and festivals including an international literary festival, a two-week brass music gathering and a cutting edge festival of light, owner of the largest collection of decorative art outside of London and location to one of the most popular visitor attractions in the UK, tomorrow Durham will take part in a nationwide seminar to continue its bid to be UK City of Culture in 2013.

Durham’s culture is rooted in spirituality, knowledge and sense of place and its bid centres on three strands; Creative Durham a series of activities designed to grow the county’s cultural life, encourage community participation in cultural activities and promote Durham as an area where creative individuals can live and work; Festival Durham, an ambitious series of events and festivals which will take Durham into the next decade, cementing its position as a true cultural destination and Cultural City, a series of activities which seek to reconnect the communities of the county with their capital, and vice-versa, re-energising the city as the economic, social and creative heart of the county.

Strong Support for the bid:

An array of cultural personalities with connections to Durham are backing the bid. Among them is Bill Bryson: “My long standing love affair with Durham is well known as I have, without hesitation, lavished praise on its architecture, heritage, gardens, river. The more time I spend in the company of the people of Durham, the more I have come to realise that there really must be something in the water here.”

Paul Gudgin, former director of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is also supporting the bid, giving guidance as a creative consultant. He helped transform the Edinburgh Fringe into one of the world’s best breeding grounds for comic, music and theatrical talent. Gudgin first became involved with Durham when he advised on the development of Brass: Durham International Festival.

“Glasgow and Liverpool represented attempts to revitalise large, post-industrial cities through culture. We have the opportunity to show that awarding UK City of Culture to Durham will represent a real contrast to the two European versions hosted to date. Durham is a romantic and striking city with compactness, historic beauty and opportunities to stage outstanding festivals and events. It is the perfect canvas upon which the city and county of Durham can make a major contribution to the nation’s cultural life,” said Gudgin.

Local support for the bid is also strong with over 4,000 people publicly pledging their support in just over a month. People of Durham have always known how wonderful their city and county is and they want to show this to the rest of the country and the world. Residents were offered the chance to back the bid when officials from Durham’s culture bid officially unveiled the logo and branding to be used. Exhibited in a community art gallery in Durham’s city centre the show pulled in enthusiastic crowds who pledged their support by signing their names on the walls of the gallery. Empty Shop will now go on tour around the region throughout autumn so as many people from the area can show their support.

An appetite for culture:

Durham already offers some of the most exciting cultural events and attractions in the UK The bid for City of Culture 2013 will only add to the wealth of events and programmes:

• Durham’s Cathedral is one of two UNESCO world heritage listed Cathedrals in the UK and is considered to be one of the best examples of Gothic architecture in the world. From early history onwards the city and county has always attracted the brightest creative minds and is the cultural heart of the city and the county.

• Producers of extraordinary live events Artichoke, renowned for La Machine, the Sultan’s Elephant and Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth commission One & Other will produce an ambitious and spectacular festival of light, Lumiere, in the city, building on last year’s Enlightenment Festival which attracted 30,000 visitors.

• The Durham Book Festival is one of the cultural highlights of the year, playing host to authors from around the world. This year’s festival sees books coming to life with author events happening in site specific locations. Victorian train detective writer Andrew Martin will hold an event at a restored Victorian train station in the village of Stanhope and the North’s Biggest Book Swap will take place right in the heart of Durham’s city centre.

• BRASS: Durham International Festival is an annual two-week festival of world brass music drawing artists from across the globe and audiences of over 80,000 each year.

• The award-winning Beamish Museum celebrating life in the North East in the 19th and 20th centuries and Locomotion: National Railway Museum telling the story of County Durham as the “cradle of the railways” are among the most popular attractions in the North East.

• The Bowes Museum a French style chateau that houses one of the largest collections of Decorative Art outside of London, built by 18th century art collector John Bowes for his wife.

• The Gala Theatre, Durham’s leading arts venue that produces new work, nurtures home grown writers, as well as attracting national productions and companies. The Arts Council England estimates that the Gala Theatre contributes £6.5m per annum to the local economy.

• Durham’s excellent sporting offering also strengthens its bid with the Durham Regatta, dubbed the “Henley of the North” the second oldest rowing regatta in England draws crews and major crowds for two days every June. Durham County Cricket Club has grown from gaining first class status in 1991 to winning last year’s English County Championship, and will host The Ashes in 2013 acting as an international test cricket venue until 2016.

The benefits:

Aiming to inspire people across County Durham and transform the economic prospects of this rural region, Durham’s bid aims to encourage people and communities to aspire and be inspired. By re-energising culture it seeks to reverse the trend which places Durham low on the league table of English counties for people visiting libraries and museums and attending cultural events.

The economic and social benefits to Durham are clear, winning the bid to be UK City of Culture would mean developing a creative place for people to work and live. As well as the pleasure of simply enjoying culture and encouraging residents of the county and the city alike to express themselves and their communities through culture, cultural regeneration has shown to improve an area’s economy, its residents’ health and wellbeing, the level of education offered and general quality of life.

Culture, tourism, sport and recreation businesses and creative industries employ nearly 10% of the region’s workforce, and contribute over £1bn per year to the regional economy. However, if the region is to emerge from the economic downturn in a stronger, more competitive position, there is a need to create quality places where people want to live, work and do businesses by finding new and imaginative ways of using culture. Re-stating Durham’s importance as a cultural centre will develop pride and aspiration in the county.

About Durham Festivals and events:

In 2008, Durham hosted the award-winning Enlightenment, its first-ever international light based arts festival featuring outdoor arts installations by Asian and British artists and inspired by the county’s religious and industrial heritage. 30,000 visitors saw Durham’s bridges, river, landmarks and shop fronts transformed into a stunning exhibition of light based art. BRASS: Durham International Festival is one of the world’s fastest growing festivals celebrating global brass music. Over the past three years, Durham has welcomed musicians from five continents and more than 20 countries and annual audiences in excess of 80,000 for two weeks of free street performances and big band concerts in July. At the same time, work is underway to revive the lost tradition of Mystery plays in Durham. These biblical stories are being reinterpreted through contemporary media by local Durham artists under the direction of the city’s Gala Theatre. Durham’s Book Festival attracts leading literary figures each year to celebrate the power of the written word.

In 2008, the festival was headlined by best-selling authors, Kate Atkinson (Whitbread prize-winner – Behind the Scenes at the Museum) and Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe series), TV comedian, author and activist Mark Thomas, and veteran BBC War correspondent Kate Adie

About the bid:

Durham’s culture bid is led by Durham County Council, in partnership with County Durham Partnership, Visit County Durham and Durham City Vision. The bid will centre around the following strands:

‘Cultural City – Cultural County’: a series of activities reconnecting the communities of the county with its capital city and vice-versa, re-energising the City as the economic, social and creative heart of the county.

‘Creative Durham’: a series of activities designed to enhance the county’s cultural life, encouraging community participation in cultural activities and promote Durham as an area where creative people can live and work.

‘Festival Durham’: an ambitious programme of events and festivals which will take Durham into the next decade, cementing its position as a true cultural destination.

The new UK City of Culture competition was proposed to enable towns and cities to access the type of culture-led benefits that Liverpool achieved as European Capital of Culture in 2008. Evidence of the impact to Liverpool in 2008 can be accessed at “http://www.impact08.net” www.impact08.net . Durham will be the first predominantly rural area to bid to take advantage of the benefits culture-led regeneration brings. Funding for the proposed bid comes from Performance Award Grant, money awarded to local authorities who perform well.

Contacts:
For further information / Use of pictures / Interviews
Idea Generation: +44(0)20 7749 6853
Ellen Harrison: ellen@ideageneration.co.uk
Emily Airton: emily@ideageneration.co.uk
Durham City of Culture site