AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 8

Nick Morgan, CEO,
We Are The Fair
firms that now dominate much of the world market for events.
The ideas-to-market innovations made by events SMEs are all the
more remarkable, as Nick observes, because securing, say, a green
space and an accompanying licence can now be very tough. Local
authorities can be overly restrictive. At the same time, eventgoers’
expectations have never been higher. Finally, today’s social media
allow audience reactions to events to be both very personal and
completely instantaneous.
In the 21st century, too, creating branded locations through
events is a challenge. It means mounting a variety of attractions over
an extended period of time. Yet when events SMEs have been around
to support all that, cities from Amsterdam to Austin in Texas have
been transformed.
What James Woudhuysen aptly calls the Political Economy of
Informal Events is, then, something that British cities, counties and
regions need to consider. For when any kind of event happens, its
benefits can spread into every nook and cranny, whether locally or
beyond, whether noticed or not.
***
This White Paper brings together just some of the modest,
rather disparate literature and statistics that exist on British and
international events. The range of sources referred to is necessarily
varied, but we would like to thank all the publishers, organisations
and individuals quoted.
Drawing upon economics, politics, sociology and technology, the
paper uses official government data, and data taken from business
sources, to give a sense of the likely future growth of informal events.
It estimates not just the considerable demand for informal events,
but also the challenges – particularly around licensing – that they are
likely to encounter over the decade to come.
We hope that the paper deepens what UK cities and other
jurisdictions think and do around events. England has 353 local
authorities. There are unitary authorities run by Scotland (32), Wales
(22) and Northern Ireland (11). If all these bodies now get together
with Business Improvement Districts and other local forces to bring
events into their master plans for the future, they will be able make a
lot more out of events than they do at present.
In June 2017, headline band The 1975 took to the stage at Parklife
Festival, Manchester. They did so with the mayor of Greater Manchester,
Alan, and many of those professionals – police, firefighters, nurses,
ambulance workers and others – who had made the first response to
the Manchester Arena bombing in May, when, at a concert given by
Ariana Grande, 22 people lost their lives.
For a full minute, everyone on stage and in the audience – everyone
– stood and cheered their united defiance of those who try to divide
audiences at events.
It is in that spirit that we hope you engage with this White Paper.
All those involved in events have a common interest in ensuring
that Britain puts on some truly great ones between now and 2030.
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