If similar creativity festivals were held in Finland, the government would have to give the science and culture sector EUR 12 million for the arrangements, writes London correspondent Annamari Sipilä.
London
In autumn 2018 British Conservative Prime Minister at the time Theresa May introduced the great idea of his government: To hold big post-Brexit festivals to celebrate UK creativity and innovation at the start of a new era.
May is no longer the prime minister, and there is not much celebration in the sanctions on brexit.
The Brexit festivals, on the other hand, will start in a couple of weeks in March.
However, one thing has changed: the word brexit has disappeared into the background.
Festivals the name is now Unboxed: Creativity in the UK.
Festivals lasts seven months. There are ten major projects showcasing science, art and technology, and they are spread across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Approximately 2,500 creative industry experts and organizations have been involved in the arrangements.
Money has not been saved. The budget for the festivals is £ 120 million, or about € 143 million.
The money comes from the state, and the organizers have reportedly been given a free hand.
“The amount looks big, but it’s only a couple of pounds per inhabitant,” said the festival’s lead producer Martin Green To foreign correspondents in London last week.
Produced by Martin Green.
Brexit however, there is a word that Green also does not want to hear. According to him, “Brexit Festivals” was originally just a name coined by the media.
“Festivals have nothing to do with it [brexitin] on the contrary. “
Both the cultural sector and the world of science have been strongly opposed to EU separation in Britain. Brexit has made the international work of British artists and researchers even more difficult.
The big name in cultural events, Green, is best known for hosting the acclaimed opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Summer Olympics. He was too lifting – Hull, the northern Englishman who was previously denigrated as Britain’s poorest city, as the 2017 City of Culture.
Brexit stamp however, the festivals remain.
According to Green, on the other hand, it is clear that if the festivals were “brexit festivals”, they would not have been viewed well by the brexit-negative Scottish National Party SNP in Scotland and the ruling Labor Party in Wales.
Now the festivals are organized in collaboration with every country in the UK.
“Culture has an important role to play in our hope for a pandemic … Unboxedparticipation in festivals is intended to support the well-being of Scotland and the event and cultural sector in this role, ”the Scottish Minister for Culture Jenny Gilruth announced last October.
In the end, of course, it is up to the public to decide how they interpret the festivals and their success.
Thought game: What if the Finnish government gave the Finnish cultural, scientific and event industry a one-time pot and a free hand to celebrate Finnish creativity and Finnish innovation in the post-pandemic world?
How much could it cost?
If UnboxedThe budget of Finnish festivals would be proportional to the population of Finland, the budget of Finnish festivals would be about 12 million euros.
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