World festivals 4 all

10:21am Thursday 3rd July 2008

Viv Hardwick talks with Suzy O'Hara Sheader, Matthew Moore and Tom Boden about the ambitious plans to turn Durham City into a top venue for hosting festivals

EDINBURGH eat your heart out four back-to-back festivals this summer are aiming to prove that Durham City is a world class contender when it comes to hosting artistic events.

Kicked off by this weekend's launch of Streets of Brass - the festival which attracted 80,000 people to the city area last year - the new-look line-up of events celebrate dance, folk music and busking.

The aim is to add an international reputation for culture to County Durham's highly visible world heritage site of cathedral and castle and the much-vaunted academic achievement of the city's university and all for a modest investment of £120,000.

Sitting in the bustling cafeteria of Durham's Gala Theatre, which is rapidly becoming a star performer in the city's events calendar, Suzy O'Hara Sheader events support officer for Durham City Vision, who came up with the festivals' strategy, says: "We are looking to create a world class city which is staging world class events. Essentially we were brought in to look at culture in the city. We looked at gaps in provision and to see what Durham was good at, what could be celebrated and what might be done better."

She and events coordinator Kate James then set about creating the links and partnerships between visiting artists, existing organisations and venues to produce the flow of festivals which aim to bring tens of thousands of people into Durham throughout this month and August.

One result, for example, is Streets Of Folk on Saturday August 2, which draws on the expertise of three existing event teams - from Durham Traditional Music Festival, Folk Party and Folkworks.

"We realised that Durham had a lot of events, but they were pretty fragmented so we've focused on setting up partnerships which let people know about this outdoor activity and highlights the existing events as well," explains O'Hara Sheader.

Four events: Streets of Brass, Streets of Dance, Streets of Folk and Streets of Play will take place across the city centre during the summer.

Buskers, dancers and musicians from as far afield as America, Portugal, Australia and The Virgin Islands will be making the journey to the North- East over the next few weeks.

Matthew Moore, of County Durham Tourism Partnership, feels that the Streets Of Brass festival has forged the template for future summers with a combination of live free entertainment and ticket-sale indoor events which maintain the region's proud tradition of brass band music.

"We're aiming to attract the finest players and we don't think there is another festival like it in the UK. People coming to Durham will hear the best brass music in the world," he says.

With tourism across the county worth £589 million and around 12,000 jobs relying on a steady stream of visitors to the area, the success of the festivals, many of which involve free street entertainment, may appear difficult to gauge.

"If high quality international events are coming here it gives the city a chance to shine. Success will be in terms of the impact on the people that come along, particularly if they have a great experience and want to come back again," says O'Hara Sheady.

One example being used is Gateshead's Angel Of The North which sparked a cultural growth on Tyneside leading to the Quayside area hosting events inside and outside iconic buildings like Sage and Baltic.

"We don't see ourselves in competition with NewcastleGateshead because we are two very different cities in what we are doing with events and in terms of architecture, but I do think it is time for Durham to showcase world class events," she adds.

And the idea of Durham one day rivalling Edinburgh's festival isn't an unrealistic hope.

Former Edinburgh Fringe Festival director Paul Gudgin was brought in as a consultant to offer an opinion on Durham's festivals line-up.

Tom Boden of Gravity Consulting, one of public relations companies involved in Durham's arts regeneration, says: "Paul created a report on the potential of Durham which shows it is one of the cities in the UK with the ability to go on and be a festival landmark. It is obviously starting off on a smaller scale to Edinburgh, but there is nothing wrong with the ambition of one day tourists deciding between going to Durham or Edinburgh to a festival."

One of the biggest gambles in 2008 comes in The Streets of Dance programme when anyone with an mp3 player or walkman and headphones is invited along to the city's Millennium Place to dance to their own tracks.

The event gets under way at noon on July 13 and when asked if this world record attempt on mass dancing would appeal to all, O'Hara Sheader replies: "I don't think people will be too intimidated to dance. What we're looking forward to is everything from someone waltzing to those moving to a favourite Bon Jovi or dance track and throwing some shapes across the square."

For more details on the festivals go to www.streetsof.co.uk and for more information about events in and around the city go to www.visitcountydurham.com The events are:

Streets of Brass, Saturday & Sunday, Durham City Centre

Full listings and features are published in the 16-page supplement with 7DAYS this week with up-to-date detail and ticket sales available on www.brassfestival.co.uk and 0191- 332-4041 Quiet Riot & Streets of Dance, Sunday, July 13, Millennium Place, Durham City

Anybody who wishes to take part in the Quiet Riot dance event simply needs to register their details on www.streetsof.co.uk and bring along their mp3 player to Millennium Place, Durham, at noon.

Quiet Riot is part of Big Dance 2008 and supported by Arts Council. Produced by Durham City Arts and TIN Arts.

Streets of Dance features street dance old meets new when internationally acclaimed The Jiving Lindy Hoppers perform to 1930s swing and come head to head with contemporary Hip Hop dancers and UK BBoy champions The BADTASTECRU.

Free workshops are being led by professionals.

Streets of Folk, Saturday, August 2

The streets of Durham City will be filled with driving reels, lively jigs and atmospheric airs in the summer's newest festival. A captivating programme of the best of traditional and modern folk music will be performed at this one day spectacular with music resonating from every street corner.

Streets of Play, Saturday, August 23

This is the reincarnation of the highly successful Vision International Buskers Festival held in 2007. Acts include; Get Knotted, an aerial rig show about the emotional roller-coaster of an extreme wedding, featuring upstaging bridesmaids and a live band. The Balloon-a-tic takes the watchme- twist-this-balloon-into-a-dog scenario to a ridiculous new level and Great Scott a cheeky, skillful juggler, will keep everyone laughing and on the edge of their seats, as he performs tricks on a rolling tube on top of a champagne glass tower.

Some of the city's hidden locations and gems' will be revealed to visitors following the buskers' trail map. A public vote will result in one performer receiving the Meteor People's Choice Award. This will also double as a prize draw where one lucky voter can win free parking for a whole year in Durham's Meteor car park at Walkergate. Ballot papers are available at the town hall reception in the Market Place.

* Durham Folk Party, July 25-27, is now in its 19th year. The Durham City event celebrates traditional song and dance centred on the Dun Cow pub, Market Place, town hall and the Rowing Club, which offers caravan and camping facilities.

www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamfolkpart y or call 0191-384-4160 * Folkworks Durham Gathering, August 14- 16 showcases the summer schools running August 11-16 for juniors, youth and adults.

August 16 features a free open-air concert and picnic at the DLI Museum and Art Gallery. folkworks@the sagegateshead.org or 0191-443-4569 * The all-important Durham Miners' Gala takes place on July 12 * The festivals follow June's successful events such as the music concert FuturePerfect, Durham Regatta and Illuminate 08, plus the inaugural Durham Arts Festival. In the autumn, the literature festival transforms into Durham Book Festival, October 17-26, which will again bring acclaimed writers, speakers and performers to the region.

www.bookfestival.org.uk