2014 Summer Festival Report
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The Summer Festival -
What they said
Friendly, well-organised, passionate Cultural, accessible, enjoyable
Awesome, amazing, super!
Exciting, stimulating, moving Sociable, relaxed, lively Delightful, fun, inclusive
Spiffijng, smashing, lush Entertaining, different, imaginative
Zany, professional, refreshing
Atmospheric, engaging, thrilling Magic, interesting, fantastic Vibrant, captivating, anarchic Heart-warming, lovely, creative Inventive, outstanding, brilliant Original, unexpected, arresting Wow, spectacular, happy
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Contents – p.3 An Introduction to the HammersmithLondon Summer Festival – p.4 Theatre in the Square – p.5 & 6 Wimbledon – p.7 & 8 Picnic in the Square – p.9 & 10 Royal Opera – p.11 & 12 Business Feedback – p.13 Social Media – p.14 Press Coverage p.15 - 20
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HammersmithLondon Summer Festival 2014 – an introduction Once again Hammersmith became a cultural hub as the BID organised London’s biggest free festival and drew thousands of people into the area. Now in its seventh year, the HammersmithLondon Summer Festival offered workers, residents and visitors a bumper summer of cultural delights, all taking place in Hammersmith’s Lyric Square. The festival got underway in May with the month-long Theatre in the Square season, organised in partnership with the Lyric Hammersmith and featuring some of the best up and coming theatre companies in the country. More people than ever before watched as fearsome creatures were discovered in The Beasts, melancholy vaudevillian ghouls performed in The Itinerant Music Hall, a colourful dreamlike world was brought to life in Made Up Stories From My Unmade Bed and the full range of bus stop emotions were conveyed in Full Stop. The HammersmithLondon deckchairs were filled for each performance, as shows ran during Tuesday and Wednesday lunchtimes and after work on each performance’s first day. While we may not have reignited the dizzying euphoria of last year’s historic final, Wimbledon was once again a crowd pleaser, as tennis fans headed to Lyric Square in their droves to bask in the sunshine and watch the world famous tournament. During Wimbledon fortnight we displayed a snapshot of what Hammersmith could look like in the future, as drawings and models created by local schoolchildren were on display as part of the London Festival of Architecture. Over two days, people flocked to see how the bright minds of tomorrow would alter the town, which included removing the flyover and installing cable cars, viewing towers and even some giant robotic pigeons. As soon as Wimbledon ended we were gripped with Tour de France fever as the world’s most famous sporting event staged Le Grand Départ in Britain. To celebrate it coming through London we showed live coverage of the race on big screen, while also offering free Dr Bike sessions and giving out free cycling maintenance tips. This also marked the start of our Picnic in the Square events, when we rolled out the turf and encouraged people to get out on their lunch breaks by joining us on our 30ft long picnic table. Youngsters from Albert & Friends delighted passers-by during week one with their fantastic tightrope, tumbling and juggling skills and the soothing sounds of festival supporter Radio Jackie, were played during week two. The festival was brought to a close with our ever-popular live opera night. Around 600 people came to Lyric Square to watch the live broadcast of La bohème which was streamed from the Royal Opera House directly to the HammersmithLondon Big Screen including the borough’s newest mayor, who gave the performance a resounding two thumbs up.
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Theatre in the Square Lyric Square, Hammersmith’s premier public space, took on a new role this summer when it became an open air stage for four very different productions. Each Tuesday and Wednesday, crowds would flock to the area to watch as four up-and-coming theatre companies delighted and thrilled through a rich mix of storytelling. Shows ran during both lunchtimes and on Tuesday evenings. A combination of acting, puppetry, music and dance were used to tell tales about melancholy ghosts, bus stop romance, child-like dreamers and game zoologists. A varied and family-friendly line-up proved to be a winning formula for this year’s Theatre in the Square season as audiences responded positively. All the HammersmithLondon deckchairs were filled up for each performance and many people commented to the team that they had watched the shows multiple times.
The Beasts by Bucket Club
May 27 & 28
The Itinerant Music Hall by Flipping the Bird
June 3 & 4
Made Up Stories From My Unmade Bed by Page One Theatre
June 10 & 11
Full Stop by Light the Fuse
June 17 & 18
By working with the Lyric Hammersmith we were able to promote the Summer Festival and the BID to a wider audience, specifically to those who may not have attended a HammersmithLondon event before. We were also able to support the Lyric Hammersmith as not only did we run an exclusive Privilege Card deal offering two for one drinks during Tuesday evening performances but we were able to showcase the work of the theatre to the public. When we asked the public many had ever been to the Lyric Hammersmith, only 61% said yes, but a further 70% said the performances would encourage them to do so. This shows that during the theatre in the square season we were successful at increasing awareness of the BID and the theatre. Furthermore 82% of people rated the event as very good or excellent and everyone surveyed said they felt it made the area seem more vibrant.
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Have you spent any money in Hammersmith today? Not yet, but I'm planning to
17%
No, and I'm not planning to
9%
Yes
74%
How did you hear about this event? Other Social Media Lyric Hammersmith Saw it happening Word of mouth Flyer / Ad E-news Website
1% 3% 3% 64% 15% 7% 2% 5%
How has this event changed your perception of Hammersmith? Much worse than I thought
1%
Made no difference
27%
Much better than I thought
72%
Do you work/live/visit Hammersmith? Visit
Live
Work
35%
31%
34%
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Wimbledon Although we missed out on another histrionic Andy Murray final, the Wimbledon tennis championships were once again an exhilarating crowd pleaser. Such is its popularity that it does not matter whether the defending British champion is playing, as Hammersmith becomes a go-to place for watching the tennis live on the big screen. Once again we showed the tournament in its entirety and we were, for the most part, blessed with good weather. Aside from one soggy Saturday our weekend and evening showings were just as popular as the daytime screenings, suggesting that not only were workers staying later, but that residents and visitors were making good use of the offer available to them. As is shown in the graph below, the overwhelming majority of people stopped to watch the tennis as they saw it unfurling in Lyric Square. This is a slight increase on the 77% of 2013 and 70% that ‘saw it happening’ in 2012. At 46% it is nice see that almost half the crowd were made up of employees and it is encouraging that there were so many visitors watching the tennis and thereby enjoying a better Hammersmith experience. This year we also had the added bonus of being featured in both the Radio Times and Time Out as one of the best places to watch the tennis in London. (See press coverage p.16) We received positive feedback from people who said they had seen this coverage and had travelled to Hammersmith specifically to watch our big screen. The big screen coverage of Wimbledon remains an important staple in the BID’s events calendar as it brings people to the town centre, drives up spend –92% of people had or were planning to spend money - and helps to make the area more vibrant. Furthermore almost 100% of people surveyed think the coverage is very good or excellent and this is a figure that has remained consistent over the past two years. We also showcased two London Festival of Architecture events during the fortnight, in which we invited local school children to imagine what Hammersmith could look like in the future. Working with architecture students from the University of Westminster and Oxford Brooks, pupils and students produced a mixture of drawings and models which were displayed to the public. Each participating child received a certificate and a medal. The competition was organised by West London Link Design, a group of local architectural practices supported by HammersmithLondon Business Improvement District, to build on the success of the group’s Hammersmith Flyunder project, first showcased at the 2012 London Festival of Architecture.
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Have you spent any money in Hammersmith today? Not yet, but I'm planning to
12%
No, and I'm not planning to
8%
Yes
80%
Do you work/live/visit Hammersmith? Visit
29%
Live
26%
Work
45%
Have you ever been to a BIG SCREEN event like this before? No
37%
Yes
63%
How has this event changed your perception of Hammersmith? Much worse than I thought Made no difference Much better than I thought
0% 27% 73%
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Picnic in the Square The circus came to town in July as we built on the success of last year’s inaugural Picnic in the Square by expanding the offer for 2014, to accommodate cyclists, yoga enthusiasts and tightrope walkers. We rolled out the turf, put out the picnic tables and created a very enjoyable lunchtime atmosphere over five days in Lyric Square. Starting immediately after Wimbledon, our first day coincided with the Tour de France travelling from Cambridge to London. To capture the cycling mood we showed live coverage on the big screen and provided a free Dr Bike service for levy-payers, which included a bike mechanic giving health checks and providing useful safety and maintenance tips. For the next two days, the lunchtime crowds were wowed by the skills of local schoolchildren as Albert & Friends Instant Circus performed a wonderful show which included tight-rope walking, ball balancing, juggling and tumbling. During the second week we invited local levy-payer Lumi Power Yoga to run free outdoor taster sessions, which was not only well attended but included a real mix of participants who were unphased as they performed multiple mountain poses and downward dogs in front of a curious crowd. All throughout the Picnicking events we broadcast festival supporter Radio Jackie through the big screen to help provide Lyric Square with a more pleasant and vibrant atmosphere. This year’s programme for Picnic in the Square was welcomed by workers, residents and visitors as 97% thought it made the area more vibrant, 94% rated both Lumi Power’s demonstrations and the Picnic in the Square as very good or excellent and 90% said they would return to Hammersmith for similar events.
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How has this event changed your perception of Hammersmith? Much worse than I thought
0%
Made no difference
23%
Much better than I thought
77%
Have you spent any money in Hammersmith today? Not yet, but I'm planning to No, and I'm not planning to
0% 6%
Yes
94%
Do you work/live/visit Hammersmith? Visit
29%
Live
29%
Work
42%
Had you heard of Lumi Power Yoga? Not sure
3%
No Yes
71% 26%
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Live from the Royal Opera House A much loved and heart-wrenching love story brought the festival to a close as we showed the classic opera, La bohème live on the big screen. A popular date in the diary, the annual live stream from the Royal Opera House provides us with a unique opportunity to showcase Hammersmith to a new and diverse crowd. As one of only a handful of London locations to take part in the BP Big Screens season we know that many people travel to Hammersmith for this event. Of the people we asked, 64% had previously been to Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House, so we know that a fully formed opera crowd is coming to Hammersmith for this one evening. As Hammersmith is trying to re-establish itself as more of a cultural and leisure destination it is good for the town to be associated with the opera as it allows us to bring more people into the area, who might have otherwise not have come. In 2013, 50% of the crowd were made up of visitors and this year’s figure was slightly higher. Unlike our other summer events, people make plans around the opera performance which drips back into the evening economy – 86% of the crowd spent money in the area by the end of the night. What is particularly interesting is that of the people asked, 56% had been to an outdoor event like this before, meaning that this outdoor screen was a new experience for almost half the crowd. What makes this especially reaffirming is that 97% rated our opera evening as very good or excellent.
Have you spent any money in Hammersmith today? Not yet, but I'm planning to No, and I'm not planning to
6% 14%
Yes
80%
How did you hear about this event? Saw it happening Word of mouth
10% 14%
Flyer / Ad E-news Website
36% 16% 24%
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Has this event made you more or less likely to attend Hammersmith's outdoor events in the future Don't Know Less Likely
5% 2%
More Likely
93%
Have you ever been to a BIG SCREEN event like this before? No
44%
Yes
56%
Do you work/live/visit Hammersmith? Visit
52%
Live Work
30% 18%
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Business Feedback This year’s summer programme helped to increase footfall and dwell time resulting in a much busier and more energetic town centre. Businesses told us they enjoyed a buoyant summer as a result of the festival and that Hammersmith had a warm, vibrant feel to it. This is in contrast to 2013 when many traders felt the pinch as a result of major building projects being undertaken in the town at the time. This year the majority of businesses experienced a fruitful summer with many of them far surpassing their targets. Businesses in close proximity to Lyric Square tend to benefit more than those further out, but most retailers in King Street told us the festival had a positive impact. In the past 12 months there has been an influx of new shops and restaurants in the area, and not only were they very impressed by the festival and what it did for the local community, but they felt it also helped to increase their trade. They told us that spend had increased on days that events were being held on the square and that dwell time was much more noticeable on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Furthermore they were delighted that their staff could also enjoy the festival on breaks and after work. Clothing retailers enjoyed a prosperous summer as the prolonged hot weather caused a spike in their seasonal ranges and this helped them to achieve a year-on-year increase in sales and footfall. This was a similar situation for pubs, who did not benefit at all from the World Cup but enjoyed a strong summer as the warm weather caused people to stay in Hammersmith longer. Businesses that took part in our daily App competition (see digital presence) were extremely enthusiastic about the response they received. Participating restaurants welcomed new customers who had heard about them through the publicity for the competition and expressed an interest in working with the BID next year on a similar scheme. One recurring point raised by many businesses is that traffic towards the bottom end of King Street could be improved. Traders located further form Lyric Square don’t always reap the benefits of the festival so expressed an interest in becoming more involved in the future.
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Digital Presence The Summer Festival provides us with a unique opportunity to engage with workers, residents and visitors in a new and innovative way. Throughout the programme of events we use our many different digital platforms to inform and communicate. The website, our app, and all our social media accounts - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - are updated daily and we use these tools as a way to notify our followers of upcoming events, to publish news items and to answer queries. With the festival bringing so many people into the area, it provides us with a good platform to extend our digital reach. During the festival we ran a daily prize giveaway in an attempt to increase the number of people using our app. Using all of the above channels we encouraged people to download the app, and then sent a Hammersmith related question as a notification each day. Prizes were donated by local businesses and ranged from free gym membership and make up, to a meal for six. This was a very successful campaign as we managed to gain 287 new users, taking our total to 1,261 and during this period we had more than 11,100 download sessions. Our website also received s more traffic during the festival with just under 14,000 hits during this period. The most popular pages proved to the Theatre in the Square productions, which were averaging 400 hits for the first four Tuesdays of the festival. We also felt a spike in our social media accounts:
Facebook Instagram Twitter
Followers – Pre Festival
Number of posts
3,242 175 1,712
147 35 180
Followers – post festival 3,275 (+33) 220 (+45) 1,863 (+151)
As you can see, our Facebook page already had a substantial amount of followers prior to the start of the festival and although the increased number doesn’t look that high, it has proven quite difficult to build upon our base. While we would ideally like to be receiving hundreds of Likes, we are finding that more people are choosing to follow and engage with us on Twitter. Throughout the festival we received hundreds of interactions and notifications on Twitter and this, it seems, is the preferred method for communicating with us. Our Twitter account is very much a success, and will continue to grow because it offers bite size interaction. We have found that more people are checking in with us on Twitter than on Facebook. Similarly we are experiencing a slow increase in the number of Instagram followers we have. While we receive a healthy number of likes and comments, not all of those are converted into followers.
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Press coverage The Summer Festival had an unprecedented amount of coverage in the press in 2014, ranging from regular spots in the Fulham Gazette to being featured in Time Out and the Radio Times. The campaign also drew attention from local station Radio Jackie, who officially backed the festival and promoted highlights during its news intervals. Here is a selection of the best coverage from the Summer Festival.
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The Summer Festival was also featured in various other publications, both online and in print.
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