Coventry UK City of Culture events have seen 141,000 tickets sold

With Coventry half-way through its UK City of Culture tenure, organisers said it has brought major benefits to the city, including more than 141,000 tickets sold for live events in the first six months and an estimated 52,000 people having attended unticketed and free events.

Since its launch on 15 May, City of Culture involved numerous events including Party on the Green, which took place across three parks, and city-wide activity including Coventry Moves (pictured), Faith, Little Amal’s Walk and Summer of Surprises.

City of Culture has secured £172.6m of direct investment into the city since winning the title in December 2017.

According to Coventry City of Culture Trust, more than 260,000 people have live streamed City of Culture events online.

In the first six months, the Trust has awarded £4.5m to projects led by local artists and organisations.

Coventry City of Culture chief executive Martin Sutherland said, “The city can be proud of everything that has been achieved over the last six months – but there’s much more to come in the second half of our year.

“The Trust and our partners have delivered in extraordinary circumstances, and we are so glad that audiences have responded so positively.

“Since the bidding period, the city has been promised that City of Culture would have a transformative impact. Through the multiple capital projects in the city centre and across the city’s cultural venues, to the unprecedented investment in local arts organisations, to the huge interest in volunteering, and the creation of our apprenticeships – we are well on our way to achieving our ambitions.”

Coventry City of Culture Trust creative director Chenine Bhathena said, “There’s so much to look forward to as our year runs through to May 2022 and we can already see the positive legacy of our investment in people that will benefit the whole city longer term.”

The official launch event for Destination Coventry – Coventry’s official destination management organisation (DMO) – takes place on 2 December at Coventry Building Society Arena.