Celebrating Fife 2010 made more than £3 million for the Fife economy, organisers say.
The year-long programme, co-ordinated by Fife Council, saw over 1500 events staged during the area’s year of culture. The estimated spend generated by visitors to flagship events to date is £3,731,003 a reported £11.73 return for every £1 invested. This figure is in addition to the amount spent on tickets or accommodation.
It is an estimate of the amount spent by people attending events, and is based on the per head figure taken from previous studies in Fife.
Among the successes were artist Jack Vettriano’s exhibition of new work at Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, which was the most successful in the venue’s history with over 46,000 people visiting during its five-week run.
In addition, the Fife Jazz Festival in February increased its audience by 13% from last year. Fifestock sold out many performances and accommodation sales at the on-site venue alone rose by £65,000.
StAnza, Scotland’s largest poetry festival, also saw many sell-out events with visitor numbers up 12% on last year.
The Big Tent, winner of the Greener Festivals Award for the second year in a row, enjoyed an increase of 15% visitor attendance.
While some flagship events are established favourites in Fife, others had a successful first outing, namely Woodland Awakenings: A Celebration of Snowdrops, held in Falkland, Cambo and Valleyfield, which pulled in an audience of 23,505.
The first Fife Mela and Cultural Carnival in Dunfermline attracted more than 3000 people and Daksha Patel, co-ordinator for the Mela, was delighted with its success.
“It was a fantastic family event and requests have come in from people wishing to take part next year,” she said.
Council leader Peter Grant said, “We were right to take an opportunity to recognise the rich diversity and enormous number of cultural events Fife hosts every year.
“The £2.1 million investment in Celebrating Fife 2010 is reaping rewards, both economically and culturally. 2010 was about encouraging additional visitors to Fife and offering opportunities for many more people to become involved locally.
“The large numbers of people attending events all over Fife, from small events run by dedicated local volunteers to sporting events of national and even global importance, show that we achieved this.
“In Celebrating Fife 2010 we have highlighted the Kingdom’s unique identity, displayed its creativity and left a cultural legacy to be proud of.”