New plan is building intelligently on Birr's successful festivals

An exciting plan was unveiled to the general public during a recent Birr 20/20 meeting.

The plan was presented by Gary Hoctor who said it is building on the success of the town's five principal annual festivals, with the aim of making them even stronger and more colourful.

One of the ideas floated in the plan is hiring a professional to oversee the marketing of the festivals.

Salters Sterling pointed out that Festivals, in one shape or form, celebrate the essence of Birr.

“Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival,” he said, “is one of the oldest town festivals in the country. It celebrates the community, the heritage tradition, the visual arts, the built environment and the hospitality of the town. OFFline Film Festival is a contemporary celebration of that pioneering adventure into photography associated with Mary, Countess of Rosse, wife of the Astronomer Earl.

"Hullabaloo! celebrates the creative and imaginative intelligence of children and young people whose lives were deemed worthy of protection in the Law of the Innocents proclaimed near Birr more than1300 years ago. Scripts is a testimony to the long traditions of Drama, Publishing and Printing in which Birr has excelled for more than two centuries. Birr Festival of Music & Voice represents the pursuit of excellence in the making of music in castle, townhouse, farmhouse and cottage that has characterised Birr and its neighbourhood over centuries.

“Birr 20:20 Vision is delighted to have been able to sponsorthe exercise in reflection and planning represented by this report, this plan being presented to you today (which is called ‘Seeing the Beyond — Birr Festivals Planning for a Shared Future’.) The Birr Festivals separately and collectively are essential to the social and economic wellbeing of Birr and the towns, villages and farms that constitute the Municipality.

"They provide occasions for the celebration of our togetherness, for the sharing of that togetherness with others, for the affirmation of our historic identity, for the generation of revenue and for the enjoyment of a community spirit generating pride in place. These were the core characteristics articulated at the public meetings six years ago when Birr 20:20 was launched. The work of the Birr Festivals organisers, much of it voluntary, during the Coronavirus lockdown, facilitated by meetings on Zoom,exemplifies and endorses them.

"Birr 20:20 salutes the spirit of collaboration and collegiality with which the Festivals organisers are facing an uncertain future and is most grateful to all those who have contributedto the shaping of this Report, in particular to Dermot McLaughlin of Creative Strategic Solutions for his inspirational leadership, to Offaly Local Development Company for the funding to make it possible, to Sally O’Leary, Arts Officer of Offaly County Council, for her solicitous Foreword and to Karl Wallace of the Arts Counci lfor proposing the value of such a strategic review in theBirr 20:20 Vision CLG commissioned this report, with support from Offaly Local Development Company (OLDC), with the objective of producing recommendations to support sustainable festival development in Birr into the future.”

Gary Hoctor said that in 2019 the estimated total number of attendances at the five festivals in Birr was 46,291, creating an estimated economic impact of €2.08 m. In 2019 107 different events were presented and 40% of these were free of charge.
He outlined the report's recommendations: “This report recommends that the following developments need to be initiated during 2021: - Continue the work of the Birr 20:20 Vision CLG Festivals Strategy Steering Group, to oversee the implementation of the strategic actions contained in this report and to maintain an action research approach to developing theconsortium of festivals.

- Engage professional services to provide shared executive support to the Birr festivals consortium.
- Procure equipment to support the live streaming of events.
- Devise an evidence-informed
strategy for audience development and engagement for the Birr festivals consortium.
- Engage with local and regional
tourism bodies to influence Offaly’s tourism strategy and position Birr and its festivals more prominently.
- Convene a working group, involving external stakeholders, to explore the feasibility of an action research project with Offaly County Council Arts Office for submission to the Arts Council.”