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The Bass Museum of Brewing in Burton upon Trent, situated in the East Midlands, is well out of the way of the traditional visitor and tourist hot-spots. Consequently, the museum?s marketing department strives to ensure that any additional events and attractions are devised to first establish an interest and then drive repeat visits.
With its spacious courtyard, the site layout is conducive to staging open air events from October to March, including the Heavy Horse Parade and various vintage car rallies. And with the 400 capacity Hop Garden marquee being erected during the Spring and Summer, live entertainment become a viable option. Anthony Dawson, Events Manager at the museum, explains ? We target an audience living within an hour and a half ?s drive. Our marketing reflects this via a distribution network throughout that area. The acts range from jazz to blues and soul to chart music and 70s disco. It?s mainly ?middle of the road? material which gets more people through the door.?

With the introduction of its latest visitor attraction, ?Virtual 1881?, the museum has established a renewable virtual tour, which takes people on a tour of how life used to be in the Burton of 1881.This saw live entertainment take to the streets of Burton with local actors assuming the roles of the twelve virtual Burtonians in a live street theatre event in the town?s shopping areas. The combination worked and already visitor numbers are reflecting that.

The Bass Museum also plays host to a number of art exhibitions throughout the year. It showcases a diverse range of art, from that of local schoolchildren to nationally renowned artists such as Matthew Popham. Many of the exhibitions come about by word of mouth, with recommendation and regional acclaim leading to the initial contact between museum and artist. Not much of the work exhibited is linked with brewing. The Museum looks to strike a balance and has recently welcomed a mix of allegorical and classical material. An exhibition of abstract expressionism is coming next.

For further information contact Stuart White at TDM Associates. t: 01625 575592; e: stuart.white@tdm.co.uk