Dragons and horses, a hippo and a giant grasshopper, beat-boxers on bicycles and a flying machine in pursuit of a great
“I’m not going up there & wiggling!” Driving participation through transportation in Fleetwood Scott Butterfield & John Patterson Corporate Delivery Unit, Blackpool Council
Setting the Scene (Courtesy ESRO Research) The crowds at Tram Sunday had enjoyed their annual entertainment under a typically British summer sky –grey for the most part, generally threatening rain, but more often delivering bursts of brilliant sunshine. Lord Street was bustling, busy to the point where it was difficult to walk without bumping into a vehicle enthusiast examining an aging bus, an ice-cream smeared child, or a young couple making the most of their day out.
The traditional parade had long since passed, but on the corner of London Street the crowds are starting to thicken –something is clearly about to happen. Just what though, isn’t entirely clear –“I don’t know what’s going on, but these ladies keep shouting at everybody to keep back”. Through the heads it’s just possible to glimpse two comic caricatures of lollipop ladies, gesticulating wildly with stop signs, haranguing onlookers and getting under the feet of the official event stewards. Suddenly there is a blast on a horn, a thick plume of orange smoke, and amidst cheers and the clatter of wheels the Pandemonium parade is underway. Onlookers are as bemused as they are delighted by the chaotic mechanical menagerie that passes before them. Dragons and horses, a hippo and a giant grasshopper, beat-boxers on bicycles and a flying machine in pursuit of a great white bird. Some spectators are literally swept up in the excitement; without really realising what is going on they find themselves part of the parade and handing out sweets from rollerskate trolleys. The smiles linger as the noise fades away down the street: “What did you think, weird!”, “What was it?” , “I don’t know, but I liked it”.
1. How many people were there?
Perfect growth?
Newspaper Visitor Estimates by Year 80,000 70,000 70,000
60,000 50,000 40,000
60,000 50,000
30,000 20,000
10,000 0
2013
2014
2015
2016
Practical Challenge
Budget vs Accuracy People come & go People move around Mobile art… Residents! People come on foot, by car, tram, boat… • Bystanders vs spectators • • • • • •
Method Options
Drones Clicker counts Key entry points Transport – cars, trams, boat • Population surveys • • • •
…all discounted due to cost, quality, practicality or legal issues
Solution
• • • • • •
Practical ‘Grids’ Two fieldworkers Calibrated scoring Density counts AM and PM sweeps Designed not to be ‘accurate’ but enable ‘more realistic’ assessment
11
Learning
11,000 spectators (min) – lower than other estimates Needs more data on visitor flow to confirm Getting accuracy on a 1km2 footprint is hard! Good compromise of budget (£500), skills & accuracy Could be undertaken by volunteers for no cost Potential for further development to monitor this kind of open, non-ticketed setting • Challenges inflated perceptions of visitor numbers… • • • • • •
2. Who came?
Methodology
Ethnographic Study
Deep immersion and relaxed conversations, capturing the live experience and reaction Street Surveys
Random sample quantitative data gathered to capture hard facts
Transport Enthusiasts Sizeable minority • More likely to have made a special effort • More likely to have come from further away • Not necessarily with family • Seeking traditional transport exhibits, shying away from arts • Highlight for them: Tram Sunday
“It’s a family oriented day, you can bring children and older people for a day out. It’s got a bit of everything.” Family day-outers Vast majority • Multigenerational – grandparents, parents and kids • More likely to be local • ‘Day out with the dog’ • Standing around, chatting, observing, wandering • Seeking out things to ‘entertain the kids’ • Highlight for them: Dancing Diggers
“Arts stuff ? We’ve painted the bus!”
Arty types Small minority • Younger • Part of the ‘arts scene’ • Likely to have friends involved, e.g. artists or performers • Seeking out ‘arts’ aspects, keen to interact and get involved • Highlight for them: SpareParts
Lots of Local Residents
2014
55%
2015
48%
2016
54%
16
Good Proportion of Audience with Low Engagement 30%
Blackpool and Wyre
SpareParts 2014
Spare Parts 2015
25%
20%
20% 17%
16%
17%
15% 10% 5% 0%
8% 8% 5% 3%
Emerging evidence of Spare Parts impacting visits
52% recalled seeing arts activities 20% ‘inspired to visit again’ after seeing arts additions
“I’ve not been for a few years and I thought it was just vintage vehicles. My friend said there was arts entertainment and that’s why we came really”
18
WHY WERE PEOPLE THERE?
“We’ll visit a few pubs on the way down. We’ll see everyone out. It’s nice to see the town full for a change rather than people just walking along the promenade. It’s really good.”
People had different motivations for attending the event.
“We don’t live far away so we might as well come down.”
While the vast majority showed great appreciation for the arts element of the day, only a few gave it as a primary reason for their attending.
“We come every year, so we’ll be back next year”
For many it was the appeal of the various attractions of the day, while for some it seemed that force of habit was the driving force, irrespective of the program of events. It’s local and I might as well
I’m going to see friends who will be there
I want to see the arts events I want see the transport attractions
I come every year; it’s tradition I want to have a day out with family
3. What did we inspire?
“I’m not generally the type to come to something like this, but having seen it once I’d come again.”
“It’s different forms of transport, so I suppose it does fit in” “Don’t get me wrong, I think we need more of this kind of thing, it just that because we’re not used to it, it’s a bit… weird.” “It’s not about trams anymore -I think they need to change the name of it to ‘Fleetwood Family Fun Day plus Transport’” “As long as they don’t get carried away and make it too airy-fairy, I say give them the funding and let them carry on with it”
Reacting to something new
“I never thought I’d see this type of thing in Fleetwood – it’s just not that kind of place”
Beginning to engage more often, more deeply? Steps of Engagement
2014 (22,000)
2015 (22,000)
2016 (11,000)
‘Estimated Impact’
“Haven’t taken part in arts activity in last 12 months”
75%
68%
71%
39,000
Scored low on engagement scale (1-4)
65%
61%
63%
34,000
72%
62%
22,660
38%
15%
16,000
“More interested in outdoor festivals” “More interested in arts activities”
“Inspired to attend more art DIRECTLY AS A RESULT”
31%
22
5%
2%
1,320
IMPACT OF 2014 – Ethnographer perspective
While difficult to discern, it did feel that the arts events were somewhat better received by audiences this year than in 2014. There were many fewer examples where festival goers seemed perplexed or uncomfortable in the presence of ‘participatory’ activities, and generally audiences seemed more accepting and unsurprised by their presence. This seems likely to be due in part to better integration with the wider Tram Sunday program, but also appeared to be related to expectations of the days events formed by attending in 2014. Specifically, those that cited attending the previous year anticipated enjoying similar events this year, for example and in particular the SpareParts parade.
4. What Worked?
WHAT ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS WORKED? WHICH DIDN’T? Whilst SpareParts events were broadly well received, some were certainly more popular and successful than others. Crowd sizes varied, and audience members engaged more easily with some art pieces than with others.
What worked well?
What didn’t?
•
Familiarity
•
Unexpected participation
•
Mobility
•
Abstract and unexplained
•
Humour
•
Spectacle/impressive feats
•
Lack of context
•
Simple narratives
•
Schedule
•
Anticipated participation
•
Facilitators/Guides/Explainers
installations
5. What does it mean for the festival? [snippets of early emerging work from UCLAN]
Balancing Acts and Worlds Colliding • ‘Image of the parade coming down and a guy in a beautiful old car frantically polishing his car and not looking at the parade. It’s a balance between a traditional festival and an arts festival. It has to be carefully kept in check, that one isn’t bigger than the other.’ – Visual Matrix Participants • The Issue was what do we have to contribute to this whole thing, and how do we fit it into their worldview? because it is a very different worldview to a couple of old gits who are trying to make something happen in their town for the benefit of the town.
27
Treasure, Loss, and Hope • There’s a fear that we have been given a treasure that we are expected to cherish and develop, enhance and we might not do that. The whole thing has a weighted responsibility that leads hopefully to a creative fear that causes you to struggle and strive to do more so that the treasure can be passed on • If we hadn’t done something, and if LeftCoast hadn’t come in with something […] then we would have been dealing with a reducing interest in the whole thing, and this town. • this town needs this day and they need it in more ways than they might think and they need it to expand their mind as well as their pockets as well as to give them a really good day out
28
New ideas and ‘Occurences’ • The reason for the mobility scooters in the parade is that last year a mobility scooter owner came dressed as a tram, and we said what a brilliant idea and it turned into an artistic commission for this year as a result of the inspiration • I’ve forgotten the name of the artist group, but ‘the bees’ were wandering down the road, and one of the bees spotted some flowers in a window in a house where the lady was sat out in the garden, and I don’t know what permissions were involved, but he suddenly ran into the house to go to pollenate the flowers in the upstairs windows. And the crowd and the selfies and the photography that was going on was just wonderful. And it was unexpected art, it was popular art that was of a level that you just could not get that interaction if you didn’t have the bees wondering round here and seeing those opportunities.
29
6. What next?
RECOMMENDATIONS
For everyone • • • •
There are signs that this approach works – promote it, use it Further research (obviously…) Start with familiar activities and build up to a more challenging offer – should there be some continuity too? Find ways to “bridge” between this offer & other local activity
For LeftCoast and the Festival Committee • • • • • •
Improve advance promotion/descriptions of activities Continue to grow the arts offer at the Transport Festival Develop better signposting to local arts opportunities Further devolve ownership to the Committee Integration and relevance of the activities on offer is key Maintaining the festival’s roots as a classic transport show
A FINAL WORD…
As a retired guy living in Fleetwood, I think it’s great. Now and again I think about how the arts side could be improved, and 5 years ago I couldn’t have contributed anything to the arts. I’m learning a lot about that and I’m meeting people. My wife’s actually in the community choir with Extraordinary Bodies, she’d have never had done that a few years ago. We’re all getting involved. Peter Brown Secretary and Director of FFoT Organising Committee
Thanks for listening!
[email protected] @soldwindle
