OECD Culture and Local Development.pdf - PACA

2. LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BASED ON ATTRACTING VISITORS AND TOURISTS
Studies have also been performed on some specific theatres:
• The Everyman Theatre (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) is a subsidised
theatre of medium-size (682 seats in the main auditorium and 55 seats in
the “studio”). In 2003 it hosted 180,000 spectators (for a seat-occupancy rate
of 76%), one third of whom came from Cheltenham, 51% from Gloucestershire,
and 16% from outside the region, plus 250,000 people for events other than
cultural ones 52 . The total economic impact was assessed at £4.1 million.
• The Royal Centre in Nottingham is a big private theatre (1186 seats in the
theatre and 2500 in the concert hall), the total economic impact of which
is estimated at £9.4 million.
• The Derby Playhouse has not only a local but a national reputation as a
centre of creative, innovative and experimental productions. It is listed
as a regional theatre serving the urban community of Derby and the
surrounding counties (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire,
Staffordshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire). Its funding comes primarily from
ticket sales, subsidies from the Derby City Council, and the East Midlands
Arts Council, but support from private donors, foundations and governments
is rising. The total impact is £3.9 million.
It would seem, then, that the impacts are greatest in big cities like London,
and very likely in New York, Berlin or Paris. The seasons there are longer, there
are more visitors, and they spend more, which means that these theatres enjoy
steady revenues that translate into permanent jobs. It is likely, moreover, that the
number of volunteers is growing with the rising number of theatres located outside
these large metropolitan areas, if only because it is difficult for them to support
full-time jobs.
Festivals
The very conditions that make theatres into local development assets work in the
opposite direction when it comes to festivals. Can festivals exert a durable impact
on local development, given their temporary character? Will they not have to import
most of the required skills and jobs from outside? Do the rising media outlays that
festivals are always forced to budget for not constitute a vicious circle?
The results are mixed and often disappointing
Every festival is different from the next, and the image of big, costly festivals can
colour that of more modest but financially healthier festivals. From the outset, the
best-known studies dealt with festivals like those of Salzburg and Avignon.
74 CULTURE AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT - ISBN 92-64-00990-6 - © OECD 2005