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A free outdoor festival held in Birmingham had a positive economic and cultural impact on the city, according to a new report.

Birmingham Festival 23 was held over nine days in Centenary Park this summer to mark the first anniversary of the city hosting the Commonwealth Games.

The event comprised 153 projects and performances from more than 800 artists and saw a footfall of 123,500, with local people making up 85% of the attendees.

Visitors to the festival brought a positive economic impact, the report revealed, as local audiences spent a total of £422,391, while visitors spent £210,616.

The report also found that 80% of attendees felt the the festival made them feel proud of their local area, while 93.9% agreed it was friendly and inclusive. 
 

The organisation behind Vault Festival has announced plans to move into a new venue in central London to host its next festival in autumn 2024.

Vault Festival of live performance has taken place at The Vaults, a theatre and creative space beneath London Waterloo station, since 2012. Earlier this year, the venue announced it would no longer host the event, putting its future in doubt.

Vault says its new multi-space venue will be a “thriving artistic hub” located in a vacant space in Zone 1. Due to open in spring 2024, it will host “new creative ventures” in addition to the yearly festival and will be aimed at supporting early-career artists. 

The company is currency fundraising for access equipment in the new space.

Vault Director and Co-Founder Andy George said: “One of our non-negotiables for our new home was ensuring we have step-free access so more people can enjoy the work of our wonderful artists. But we don’t want to stop there. We want to install access tools throughout the building so that artists and audiences who are d/Deaf, deafened or living with sight loss can enjoy everything we and our artists do.”

He added: “We are pumped to have found a new home for VAULT following a challenging few years.”
 

Thanet Council has revealed plans to restore and modernise Theatre Royal Margate in a bid to transform the Grade II* listed venue into a “nationally significant performing arts hub”.

Proposals put forward for public review include adding a bar and cafe, a 50-seat studio theatre and sound recording studio to the 245-year-old building, as well as rehearsal rooms, offices and accommodation for touring theatre companies.

The council is also testing the market to find a new operator from the performing arts sector for the venue.

Funding of £2.2m has been allocated to the project as part of the Margate Town Deal, but the council says significant external financing is needed. 

To raise funds, Thanet Council has applied to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a further £3.2m. It is also in conversation with Arts Council England about applying to the Department of Culture Media and Sport’s Cultural Development Fund, launching in 2024. 
 
Ruth Duckworth, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Property at the council, said: “The Theatre Royal is an important historic performance asset, and plays a key role in Margate’s leisure offering. The project to restore and relaunch it is highly ambitious, and it will not be possible without the support of other major funders, an operator with vision and resources, and the support of the community. 

“The Theatre Royal has the potential to provide employment and training opportunities for young people in performing arts and creative careers. It is a truly unique heritage stage, and I would love to see homegrown talent performing in high quality, locally made productions, as well as visiting national and international theatre productions.”

A project to restore a derelict section of Alexandra Palace has been awarded £550k from Historic England’s at-risk programme.

The funding will be used to stabilise the Palace’s North East Office Building and go toward feasibility work looking at how the space can be developed for public benefit.

It marks the latest phase of a major restoration project of the seven-acre site, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Haringey Council, that saw the Palace’s Victorian Theatre reopen in 2018 following 80 years of closure. The North East Office Building is described as “the last remaining truly inaccessible area” of the Grade II listed venue.

Tom Foxall, Regional Director at Historic England, said: "Our funding for the North East Office Building is designed to address the most urgent repair work and act as a springboard to access further funding which will open up the area to the public for the first time. 

“We have worked closely with the Trust for a number of years, helping to shape and secure the repair of the building. Alexandra Palace is a vast site full of unique and intriguing spaces and we’re pleased to be able to support this essential work, following a project development grant in 2020."
 

The League of Independent Producers (LIP) has launched a dedicated membership programme to help early career producers establish themselves in the theatre industry.

LIP's Junior Member programme offers an initial 12 months’ free membership followed by a subsidised membership for two years. Participants in the scheme will receive mentoring, professional development and access to events.

The scheme is open to new independent producers of any age in the early stages of their careers, producing work in the UK, with 36 members already onboard.

LIP board member Ameena Hamid said: “Running this programme is a real honour; I am able to be the person that I needed a little earlier in my career, and I love matchmaking people with more experienced producers that can help them face their present challenges.

“It’s a real pleasure to meet the producers that often come to us at pivotal career points and help them find their next steps. The programme is an exciting opportunity, particularly as we add more benefits for the Junior Members heading into this second year of the scheme.”
 

A Lancashire museum undergoing roof repairs has delayed its reopening until next year due to severe weather conditions.

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery closed temporarily on 1 November to allow for work to take place and was expected to reopen on 29 November. The £554,700 roof replacement scheme is partly funded by Arts Council England’s (ACE) Museum Estate and Development fund.

A spokesperson for Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery told the Lancashire Telegraph it now plans to reopen on 3 January.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, a 150-year-old roof does need a lot of TLC, and a new roof will ensure that we can continue to care for our collections without worry of water ingress for years to come.”

Previously, water leakage had caused internal damage to the building, limiting the display of the museum’s collections.

The work is being financed by a £365,000 ACE grant and £189,700 from the museum’s owner, Blackburn with Darwen Council.

The gallery recently won National Portfolio Organisation status for 2023-26, worth £148,000 annually.

Dartington Summer School and Festival, held in Devon for 75 years, will move to Norfolk in 2024. 

Attracting hundreds of professional and amateur musicians, the festival has taken place at Dartington Hall near Exeter since 1953, but earlier this month, the estate’s trust said the event was "under review". The trust also announced that Artistic Director Sara Mohr-Pietsch and the summer school team stepped down.

The independent Dartington International Summer School Foundation, which supports the event, has announced it will hold a summer school and festival in July 2024 at Gresham’s School in Holt, Norfolk. 

A spokesperson told the BBC it would provide "a fabulous base... with stunning performance and rehearsal facilities along with relaxing and comfortable residential accommodation for participants, all surrounded by beautiful grounds and woodlands".

Totnes councillor Georgina Allen said: "It’s such a shame to see this go – it has been a big part of the cultural offering of this part of Devon”, adding that she hoped other festivals and events would partner with the trust. 
 

The Portico Library in Manchester has been awarded a £453,964 development grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The money will be used to transform the historic library, creating an accessible and sustainable space for arts, books, learning and history.

Established in 1806, the library will now partner with experts and community stakeholders to trial plans for a £7m capital development project to revitalise the building as a creative space while preserving its historic book collection. 

The £453,964 development grant will contribute to producing environmentally sustainable architectural plans and mapping out methods to reunite all three original floors of the Grade II* Listed building.

John Carpenter, the library's Chair, said: “The news that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting the Portico Library's bold scheme to open up and share its extraordinary heritage and collection to Manchester residents and visitors is a major cultural signal to Manchester, the North and the UK.
 
“This visionary project, years in the making, fulfils our mission of working with the many people in Manchester to explore, share, and celebrate their diverse stories and the city's literary and global heritage. Embracing creativity, collaboration and inclusivity, the project will unlock the library's past to plan for the future.”