Olivia PowellThe 10th anniversary of Manchester’s Parklife festival has announced it generated an estimated £13m pounds worth of economic benefit to Greater Manchester in 2019.
A total of around £2.7m was spent by the festival with companies, authorities, shops, freelancers and suppliers with a Manchester postcode. Their supply includes lighting, sound, marketing, security, stage managers, riggers, refrigeration, Greater Manchester Police, printers, DJ’s, live artists, cleansing, staging, power, scaffolding, buses, hardware, stage crew, décor, bar staff and set design.
As well as the annual two-day festival, Parklife curated Noel Gallagher and The Courteeners concerts which also took place at Heaton Park in June. The three events were attended by 230,000 people, which provided an estimated economic benefit to the Greater Manchester economy of £10.35m.
Parklife also provides a Community Fund in cooperation with Manchester, Bury and Rochdale councils, and is now open to applicants. The fund is designed for the benefit of local community groups; priority is given to groups and projects that utilise parks and open spaces, however all are encouraged to apply with any ideas or requests to help improve the area they share.
This year, the fund has made more than £58,000 available for the benefit of community groups. It also supports Superjosh – a charity for brain tumour sufferers and families – raising £26,295 in 2019 from donations by guest-list attendees. An additional £8000 was raised through festival tickets being donated to various charities for auctions and raffles, meaning the total amount raised for charitable causes by Parklife 2019 was more than £92,000.
The Manchester fund covers Higher Blackley and Crumpsall and there is £22,500 available with an upper limit of £3500. Applications should be made to MCC via the Neighbourhood Investment Fund.
Prestwich councillor and Bury Council’s cabinet member for the environment, Alan Quinn, said: “We have been working with Parklife and Manchester City Council for several years to minimize the disruption to Prestwich residents and will continue to do so. It’s important that local people and businesses also benefit from having these events on their doorstep. In 2016 I asked Parklife to set up a community fund, and this year the fund stands at £22,500 which is a great sum and gives local groups and charities the opportunity to bid this money.
The amount available for each project remains at £1500. However, this year due to the fact there was an extra concert we argued for more funding, so, this year an extra £13,000 is available split between Manchester and Prestwich to bid for. The £500 grants will be paid directly by Parklife using a simple application process. More details will follow on how to bid for these smaller grants. Since 2016 Prestwich has benefitted to the tune of over £80,000. In a time of continuing austerity this has made a real difference to our community groups. The grants will be awarded at an event in Prestwich towards the end of February.”
Manchester City Council’s executive member for Schools, Culture and Leisure, Councillor Luthfur Rahman, added:
“From listening to residents, we know it’s vital to ensure that the hosting of major events results in benefits for our parks and green spaces – and through the Parklife Community Fund, Parklife can also help the many community groups who are active close to Heaton Park.
“I’d urge any groups with a vision for a project which would benefit Higher Blackley or Crumpsall to apply for a grant from the Fund, so that we can help empower them to enhance their local area.”
Applications can be submitted from 2 December, and the deadline for applications is 27 January 2020. Groups will be notified by 10 February 2020 of the outcome.