THE Great Exhibition of the North comes to an end this weekend, and organisers say it has attracted an estimated four million visitors and 10,000 contributors over its 80-day run.
Arts minister Michael Ellis described it as being a “magnet for the north”.
The event aimed to create a lasting legacy in the region as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative, by inspiring the innovators and engineers of the future.
Amid entirely justified accusations that the Northern Powerhouse is really just a North West Powerhouse, it was hoped the festival might go some way to correcting the imbalance.
Of course, this kind of legacy is difficult to quantify. No sliding scales or percentages are available to measure levels of inspiration.
But outside of Newcastle and Gateshead, which already had impressive cultural offerings before a government minister dreamed up the Great Exhibition, what has been the actual impact?
There has been no kind of buzz about the exhibition or what it has achieved, no excited chatter or talk of “must-see” installations.
In towns and cities across the wider North-East, will an expensive water feature on the River Tyne and some flags around Grey’s Monument really spark the kind of changes needed to alter mindsets and broaden horizons?
The Great Exhibition of the North has really been the Great Exhibition of Newcastle and Gateshead, with a Great Opportunity missed to reach out to the rest of the region.
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