Festival are a GO, GO!

Believe it or not, Waterford City and County is one of the busiest festival regions in Ireland – FACT!

The annual Waterford Council Festival Budget distribution, took place at the first Plenary Council meeting of the year. Much of what was brought into the public gallery was of course discussed, agreed and preordained, behind closed doors, in “secret” Committee Meetings. With circa €1,400,000 to be allocated across the whole City and County, this is one of the key functions of our 32 sitting Councillors.

With all things budgetary, there are of course metaphorical swings and roundabouts. Some festivals/events in 2016 were one-offs and obviously some applications did not make the grade. The process involves the Council Executive assessing the organiser’s application for funding and this is then brought to our Councillors for ratification.  Accompanied by an associated increase or reduction in grant funding. The process is lengthy, involved and forensic. But it has to be, as these are after all public funds and transparency is paramount to the whole procedure.

The four big ticket items for 2017 are Winterval, with €430,000 being allocated and a potential income of around €250,000 from sponsorship, stall income etc. The Winterval committee will, I am sure, be re-jigged this year and I have no doubt that such is the size of the grant allocation, this will have to go out to national tender. Our two excellent food festivals, Harvest (September) and WWFF (April), receive around €150,000, which like Winterval, will be counterbalanced by some additional income. The Sean Kelly Tour (August) is supported by €180,000, which is, I assume, front loaded to offset later income sources and is therefore, in reality, cost neutral for the Council.

Finally, Spraoi (August), is supported by a grant of €67,000, which of all the festival allocations is probably not enough. Considering this was the event that started our love affair with festivals and events. Spraoi will shortly be celebrating their 25^th Birthday and perhaps we could ask our Councillors to be mindful of this and save up a few Euro, in the build-up to what will be a worthy celebration, in the coming year/s ahead?

 

The breadth and variety of festivals and events right across Waterford, is something to behold. From Lismore to Tramore, Dunmore to Ardmore, Comeraghs to Dungarvan.....there are so many to choose from, that in reality we do not need to venture outside of our county boundary to find something that tickles our fancy.

There are, within these processes, losers. Some events have had to have a funding cut, due to the very tight financial constraints which our Council must work with, because of continued reductions in Central Government funding. This in turn puts pressure on Councils to increase Commercial Rates, Local Property Tax and that wonderful “Cash cow”, that is car parking charges. In future years, to keep our festivals and events going, we will without doubt, need to spread less money further. This will be a challenge and in time may be easier to get blood out of a stone, than more Government support, allowing us to experience the wide variety of festivals we host.

The biggest cut was to the Summerval Festival. You will recall that back in August, I asked the question in this very column, “Are we getting Summerval(u)?”. For 2017 this will revert back to a “Summer in the City” type festival. This has excellent foundations, to build a first rate brand and with the support of ArtBeat, we should see a Summer long programme of events. Starting the June bank holiday and ending early September.

Circa 70 festivals/events were granted some form of Council assistance. Ranging from a few hundred Euro, to hundreds of thousands of Euro. I suppose that the tricky part will be encouraging all these festivals and events cross promote. Working together for the betterment of the whole County and across the wider South East region. If we are to put our stamp on the festivals and events map then we need to shout collectively!

Just look at what Galway espouses! According to their blurb, they are Ireland’s only festival City – a hum!

Happy Burns Night as well!

One year on!

It has been one year since I started writing my wee column in the Waterford Today. WOW, time does fly as you get older!

I switched from another “Waterford” free sheet, due to the fact that it was not really being produced in Waterford. As a “blow-in”, who is passionate about Ireland’s Oldest City, I was very conscious that to be supporting the “Made in Waterford” brand, I had to be contributing to a Waterford produced product. A chat with Paddy (The Editor) Gallagher and we agreed a seamless transfer to Waterford Today. A publication that has a small, but significant, tagline that you may never even have noticed - “ABC accredited circulation”.

It is funny that having worked, so many years ago, for the exhibition arm of a European publishing company, that literally sold hundreds of thousands of pounds of monthly advertising, I would once again understand the significance of Audit Bureau of Circulation figures. These are figures that detail just how many people are reading a particular publication.

Sometimes, you do wonder if such stated figures are correct. But, judging by the number of people who do tell me that they read my wee column, on a regular basis, I have to assume that, in the case of Waterford Today, their readership numbers are extremely high and reflective of the ABC accreditation.

That is good news for me. As I know that when the newspaper arrives through your letterbox or is collected at your local newsagent, you will read this and share with other family members in the household. Yes, I also publish the article as a blog and this in turn is shared through the Waterford Business Group and the Ferrybank Newsletter (both on Facebook). These additional outlets give the article extremely high readership numbers and for that I am eternally thankful and, well, surprised and humbled.

To have the opportunity to speak one’s mind, through the medium of print, without the need to hide behind a pseudonym, is a wonderful opportunity to spark debate and openly discuss significant issues. As can be seen from the reaction to my recent article on Summerval. Front page headlines in one weekly newspaper and headline billing on Deise AM!

The point of such articles is to inform, you, members of the general public, by making more

transparent the information that is readily available to you, but is perhaps deliberately difficult to find. For Waterford to move forward we do need more inclusiveness and this starts with early engagement and a more open communication flow. Something that we in Waterford are, if the truth be told, not particularly good at.

There appears to be a communication block when it comes to getting many a vital message across. Maybe, the people of Waterford have just switched off to the current crop of communicators, as they feel that they are constantly being spun. Or perhaps the way that the information, deigned to be divulged, is being packaged is wrong, inappropriate and written in gobbledegook. The messaging becomes irrelevant because it is presented very poorly.

An advert on local radio does not reach ALL the masses. A notice in the local papers is NOT always read. A leaflet left in a public building is NOT always picked up, and so on.

To get any message across and understood you need a combination of many resources. Perhaps the one most forgotten about and most powerful is face to face interaction. Nothing beats “wearing out the old shoe leather” when you need to maximise communication messaging.

My wee column, “Waterford Business Matters”, is my contribution to help readers understand the many, many, issues that I see face the City, County and SE Region. If we do not know the issues then we cannot tackle the source of our problems.

Economically and socially we are in a very tough place and I feel that we need to be more open, honest and frank with our discussions on how to make Waterford so much better for EVERYONE.

Roll on the next 12 months.

After all you’re my wonderwall!

Waterford last weekend was a heady mix of colour, sunshine, Bluegrass and crowds of people. The late summer weather brought people out of their homes and attracted many a day visitor from across the south east region, to the City and County, to see and experience, two most diverse of festivals.

The 22^nd International Bluegrass Festival, took place in the picturesque village of Dunmore East and has been around, ehmm, for a number for years. This niche celebration, helps to extend the tourist season for the village, by incorporating a significant festival, into the last weekend prior to the “schools going back!”

Blue skies, “warm” Atlantic waters and very busy beaches all added to the festival’s flavour. This in turn attracted families, by the hundreds, and such is the compact geometry of the village, that mum, dad and the bairns, really could find something for everyone over the weekend. There were very few tears and tantrums as the Bluegrass delivered in spades and our home-grown Olympian, Mr Thomas Barr, added to the colourful mix by making a special guest appearance.

In the City, we were once again treated to a riot of colour, as unloved walls, gable ends and derelict buildings ALL received the Waterford Walls treatment. For once the local Garda turned a blind eye to the graffiti artists, whose canvases were quite literally a blank brick or rough plastered wall.

The event, is now in its second year and has grown significantly since 2015, with around 40 murals being created this year. It is a form of street art that delivers huge impact and sparks wild debate around the suitability of the finished piece. It is this unadulterated pure expression of the mind, that makes Waterford Walls work.

In addition to the many Irish artists, we have seen talented people from all around the world, including Brazil, Mexico and Australia, come to Waterford to leave their mark on our streetscape. Their legacy will be left for at least twelve months for us to view, like, dislike, criticise, applaud and debate.

That is what art delivers for us, the ordinary Joe Soap, the non creative people of this world, who see a piece of art and say “I could do that!” But the fact is that we could not do better and it is the art we are looking that has stimulated our mind to actually think!

“All the roads you have to walk are winding...”

As you wander around the City over the next few weeks, take time to seek out and look at the art that Waterford Walls has delivered. I guarantee, that should you that pass the same piece again, you will see a completely different perspective. Each time you view the work of the artists, possibly gravitating towards your favourites, you will be stimulated to think that little bit differently, as you view them in a new context. That is what art delivers by the bucket load.

The Waterford Walls project is without doubt one of the events that we need to support with increased funding. Any increase in public funding does of course come with the caveat of transparency and accountability. But there can be no doubt that this project has longevity, the ability to grow in both size and popularity.

Waterford, last weekend, was a national news story, for ALL the right reasons. It is that type of publicity that we need to court and demand if we are to move the City forward. We have legacy issues with very poor political clout and it will take years to redress this imbalance.

In the meantime, we must focus on what we are good at and we must seek out the events and festivals that are worth their weight in gold and start backing these.

With 2017 just around the corner, our summer in the City and County should have a beginning, middle and an end. With lots of smaller “support events” taking place in between three cornerstone events of significant scale.

PS. Sceptical, I am NOT! Opinionated, YES! Passionate about Waterford – NEVER A DOUBT!

Are we getting Summerval(u)?

As we are now into the second week of August we are roughly halfway through the Summerval programme and I have to ask, “Has it started yet?”

Despite all the fanfare and pre-event promotion, many of the City businesses, a significant number of Waterford people and myself, do feel that it has been rather a damp squib, unlike the Spraoi fireworks on The Quay, a couple of weeks ago.

Dig deeper into the programming and you will see that many of our annual summertime events, attractions and festivals have been incorporated under the one umbrella and this of course is a good idea, if we are to compete with other “festival cities”. This in fact should have been done years ago and by building a strong promotional summer programme we make the whole region more attractive. However, as the majority of events were in existence prior to the Summerval banner being flown, they cannot be claimed as “new”!

Any event which receives some form of Council, therefore rate/tax payers’ subvention, should be listed under a “Waterford Festivals/Events” banner and co-promoted at every opportunity. The fallout from the Three Sisters bid has promised better interaction and closer ties with our neighbouring counties. But what about closer cross promotion from the, literally, dozens and dozens of year round festivals/events we all attend on an annual basis? Take time to count these, you’ll need more than two hands and feet to do this, and you will be mightily impressed with the levels of activities around this City and County.

So, the bigger question must be, have we received good value for money for the Summerval branding? Bear in mind that the budget for this, is in excess of circa €100,000 and if you add on the existing budgets from Summer in the City, Art Beat etc then you are looking at budgets in the region of circa €140,000. A very healthy budget indeed, when you do not have to create any new events – well at least very few new events!

Waterford Walls 2015

In addition, I have been told that the marketing, PR, event management etc and in fact all the committee work is being carried out free gratis and this should be applauded. (This of course continues the Waterford tradition of giving your precious free time for other causes.)

Thus, with no salaries, as such to pay, the whole €100k budget could be spent on new acts, new attractions, regional/national advertising campaigns, competitions, social media etc etc.

Alas, I fear that the promise that Summerval would bring thousands of extra visitors to the City and County has not materialised and in fact the whole idea needs to be closely looked at and scrutinised as it has clearly not captured the imagination of anyone.

I sat in the Council meeting when Summerval was fist muted and I know that the funding was ultimately approved by our 32 Councillors after extensive “In-Committee-Meetings.” Meetings where we, the public, our local press and media, do not get access to the minutes. It would be interesting to read those minutes and see just how forensically the business plan, budgets, cost benefits analysis etc were scrutinised by the Councillors who approved the awarding of a six figure grant!

Sadly, we will never know. But reading between the lines I would imagine that many Councillors are now asking just what value for money this exercise has delivered?

The idea of listing our many attractions/events/festivals under one corporate “Waterford’s Just Better” banner is the right way to go. But to have allocated so much money to this project, at the detriment to others, is wrong.

Yes, we needed a “Summer Festival” but the work done on the likes of Summer In The City, Art Beat etc was a foundation stone to expand on. Allocating even a fraction of the €100,000 to develop these programmes would have been, in my opinion, money better spent. There has sadly been a lack of engagement, very poor PR, and the result is no significant increase in footfall. In addition as the largest donator/sponsor Waterford Council’s logo is conspicuous by its absence from posters around the City.

Summer value – we have yet to be convinced!

Cinderella’s ugly sister!

Well that’s what it feels like!

Like the story of Cinderella we in Waterford, once again feel like one the ugly sisters, unwanted, having lost out on the judging for the 2020 European Capital of Culture. Galway will go to the ball having put her best foot forward and by all accounts her glass slipper, on judgement day last week, was worn with panache and style. Of course the fact that the judging took place at the very start of the Galway Arts Festival, must have given them a significant start in the race for the top step of the podium.

However, the judging dates would have been well know in advance and our Three Sisters Team would have been aware, that we were competing against the gale force wind that ultimately turned around at halftime to become a hurricane force for the second half.

We all witnessed the live streamed pictures of the people of Galway, watching on a big screen, in Mainguard Street, in real time. Celebrating wildly, as the announcement was made from The National Concert Hall, in Dublin. The City of Tribes came out in their hordes to support the bid process. They celebrated as if Galway’s was being announced as a World Cup or Olympic Games host!

There was so much passion and joy openly displayed after the announcement. You got a sense that having gone to ALL the trouble of setting up a big screen, for the live stream, they ALL believed that they would NOT lose.

Maybe that is the crux of Galway’s many success stories. Maybe they just believe deep down that they are the best City in Ireland. Maybe, just maybe, they will, collectively, move hell or high water to do what it takes to succeed.

Well, Friday 15^th July 2016 just proved all of the above.

What of our Three Sisters bid?

I note once again the many knockers and key board warriors, commenting across the many social media platforms. Where were you when the “call to arms” was made to put your shoulder to the wheel to help the bid?

Therein lies our problem. We will never be able to compete with a Galway, as there is not a sense of togetherness across our City, never mind the whole County. As for across the three counties who formed our bid – don’t start me on this. Just measure the fallout from the ongoing Boundary Commission looking at Ferrybank! The arguments over who should have influence over our Port and so on!

Yes, we could very well argue that we did not do enough on the judging day. We should have had FREE car parking ALL day to flood the City with mums, dads and children. Summerval should have identified Wednesday 13^th July as a key date and the City streets should have been buzzing to the sound of street music, street entertainers and spontaneous shows. All our annual festivals, should have been represented in John Robert’s Square. The City should have had a world display of tricolour flags. After all are we not the home of the Irish Tricolour? Much, much more engagement should have been made. But above all we, the people, did not do enough to support this bid.

The powers that be also need to be brave enough to pick the right people, if we are to bid for future projects like the 2020 European Capital of Culture. All too often we see glimpses and signs of cronyism that will ultimately hold us back. Seek out our talented people, engage them and work with them.

Do we always want to continually be the nearly City? No one wants that.

Galway celebrates the 2020 hosting.

So, let us make the changes. Let us get the right people, to do the appropriate jobs, from the very start. Galway is not unique in getting this part of the process correct – it is just they have been doing it for years! They seem to have managed to find a way, to reach the very hearts of their citizens. But I know that here in Waterford, we have beating hearts also.

This Ugly Sister will one day go to the ball, wearing both glass slippers. We just need to find pair of slippers that fit!

Yippee, the summer is here!

Yes, yes, yes!!!! It was officially the start of the meteorological summer on Wednesday 1^st June and some say that we have much to look forward to over the next weeks and months.

The recent run of Mediterranean weather has set us all off on a “happy footing”, unless of course you are about to sit Junior and Leaving cert exams! It always amazes me that the weather, since records began, is at its glorious best just as we imprison our kids in stifling exam halls and subject them to two or three hours of trying to unpick the complex grey matter that resides between their ears. Good luck to all concerned!

The City and its wider environs have seen some positive stories recently. For example the berthing of the huge cruise ship, Celebrity Silhouette, just off Dunmore East and the thousands of day-trippers who visited the City Centre, giving a much needed boost to many a thirsty, dehydrated shop till. Of course the continued location filming of Redwater in this village, will undoubtedly add to the “Sunny South East” mantra and I am sure all involved in this production will be relishing the summer weather that currently betters most of continental Europe.

With many a festival also on the horizon for the City and wider afield there should be plenty to get our teeth sunk into and lots to do for residents and visitors alike.

“City In Bloom” will shortly burst into life and draping the Waterford in a magical multi-coloured coat of wondrous joy that will stay with us right up to September. Spraoi will be back before we know it and then there is Day Tripper, admittedly in a new venue, not the traditional City Centre location, but still promoting a line-up, that has once again something for everyone, whether you are young or an auld one! The much vaunted Summerval has much to live up to if it is to validate all the promised hype and we hope that the festival can deliver on its €138,000 funded budget. Actually adding significantly to the City Centre footfall? We will keep a close eye on this one.

If festivals are not your thing, then you only have to travel a few miles out of the City Centre to find the type of scenery that would whet the appetite of Allsopp and Spencer. “Now here’s a view!”, we could all confidently boast to this pair of presenters.

Our region has the best of both sea and mountain views. Depending on which way you drive our coast road, you get two completely differing panoramas and two vistas that would grace the cover of any Lonely Planet guide or a Michael Palin travel book. We really are spoiled for choice.

Sea swimming is of course a must and we have kilometre upon kilometre of hushed, unspoiled beaches just waiting to be discovered.

These, mostly free attractions, should and could be the envy of many another county. But sadly, once again, we seem to be possibly sinking to the bottom of the league when attracting these much vaunted International Visitors who seem to be spending many a Euro outside of the South East.

This has always puzzled me and bewildered many more besides. When so many citizens of Waterford, are aware of just what we have to offer, why oh why is this message not being spread, by those promoters of Irish tourism? 

Are we now finding ourselves, a regional tourist area, that has literally fallen between the two stools that are the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East? Are we the furthest away point from both of these behemoths and therefore seen as “just off the beaten track!”

Are we happy to be once again feeding off the odd crumb indignantly tossed to us by the powers that be?

If we are to compete with the other more established tourism brands then we must differentiate our product.

“People Make Waterford” so let’s make that happen!

Do our Festivals matter?

Festivals & mud go hand in hand!

Yes they do!

As a City and County that prides itself on a huge number of diverse annual festivals and events, some of which have actually reached International status, we should be very proud of the fact that we can state that Waterford is one of the busiest festival regions in the country.

Yet we are still, in the perception of many, lagging way behind the likes of Galway, Dublin and Cork, and when you look at what is on offer I often wonder why we are perceived to be somehow a lesser festival product than these other Cities.

Maybe they just shout much louder than us!

At last week’s plenary meeting of Waterford Council, in addition to clarification on the newly introduced Commercial Rates levy on empty premises, which along with the general commercial rates revenues, circa €33,000,000, which help fund our many festivals and events, the issue of festival funding was discussed and debated quite robustly by a number of our Councillors.

It was refreshing to see such vigorous debating, with a number of valid and poignant reasons why the proposed contributions by Council to festivals and events had to be right for the City and County.

Waterford Walls.

With circa €1,430,000 of disposable spend available to the 58 identified festivals and events the Council must get the support grant structure accurate, fair and true, to nurture the very best of these, whilst allowing a significant financial contingency to support new fledgling festivals and events, that will ultimately replace those that have come to the end of their natural lifespan.

We do need a constant conveyor belt of new festivals and events and that is why any grant or support funding available must be distributed as equitably as possible and disseminated by knowledgeable qualified people who know, or at the very least have familiarity with, what will and will not work for Waterford.

The initial draft Council document has suggested that future funding would be evaluated by a nominated three person panel. Quite rightly our Councillors literally jumped all over this suggestion by stating that these decisions should be made by Waterford’s Councillors, as they are elected to represent the people and the businesses of Waterford. An external panel, no matter what their experience, will not be as focused and or as in touch with Waterford’s event needs.

For the first time in a long time it was refreshing to hear our Councillors speaking with one voice on this matter and demanding that the Executive bring the issue of allocating grant funding back to the Councillors for their direct input and ultimately authorisation.

It would be absolutely criminal to think that a festival or event could thrive or fail on the recommendation of a three person panel who may not know the history or relevance of a particular festival or event.

The support funding available to festivals and events is a vital building block to allow growth, regionalisation and ultimately, where relevant, nationalisation through the generation of extra bed nights to the City and County.

From small acorns large trees can grow, but only if the soil conditions are right and the tree is maintained and looked after.

Up, up & away!

We can see the huge and well deserved success that Spraoi is now having, despite loss of some national funding, and the acorn planted many, many years ago has now seen this organisation support its first ever UK festival, in sunny Scarborough.

The variety in our festivals and events is a joy to behold and whilst some get huge grant income, up to circa €430,000 that some might feel could be better spent, others clearly get smaller contributions that perhaps fit the profile of a fledgling festival looking to establish roots and grow.

The split between City and County is always an interesting debate but we all know that a great festival or event for City or County is good for everyone concerned.

After all are we not one of the same?