Time to pay up for city's free events?

From dusk till dawn on October 29 to 30, a blend of live music, video projections, installations and exhibitions will highlight the city’s reputation as a home of cutting-edge creativity.

The events are all part of White Night.

It is free and has established itself as a crucial ingredient in the city’s artistic events calendar.

But as harsh economic realities hit home, can we afford such events any more?

This year the Arts Council turned down a funding application from Brighton and Hove Arts Commission for £50,000 towards the event.

Paula Murray, head of culture and economy at Brighton and Hove City Council, refuses to see the Arts Council’s decision as a death knell for the event. She insists the future is free.

She said: “Free outdoor events are incredibly important. They help to create a sense of social and cultural identity linked to a particular place, helping in social cohesion and promoting cultural understanding.

“They can make us proud of the cities we live in and the people that live there, as well as attracting visitors and boosting the local economy.

“The fact is that free outdoor events are expensive. As many of the benefits felt are public they have traditionally been funded by public money – whether this is direct from local authorities or through lottery distributors such as Arts Council England or Awards for All.

“The festivals and events also rely on in-kind support from publicly funded arts and cultural organisations or third-sector organisations that in themselves rely on public subsidy.

“All the traditional partners in free events are being squeezed due to cuts in funding to local authorities, lottery distributors, third-sector and charitable arts organisations.”

But she said that the Arts Commission would apply for funding for White Night from the Arts Council and would also investigate the possibility of wider sponsorship.

She said: “The organiser of White Night in Paris has expressed interest in forming a partnership. If that were possible then we may be able to attract sponsorship from an Anglo-French company, for example.”

On the other side of the fence, Nick Mosley, organiser of the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival, believes paid-for events deserve more support and recognition.

He said: “At a time when many events in the city are struggling to survive in the light of cuts in public funding and the demise of corporate sponsorship, the food festival gets bigger and better due to the sheer drive and dedication of people who freely give their own time, energy and resources to ensure its continuation.

“Our very conservative calculations put a figure of £932,000 on our Spring Harvest event and £3,145,000 on our main September festival.

“A cumulative impact of |£4.1 million pounds for the local economy, generated from a total budget that’s considerably less than a fortieth of that amount is a pretty good return in my eyes.”

The city’s most famous event – and the one that has put Brighton on the international stage – is Brighton Festival in May.

The funding model is roughly one-third public funding, one-third raised through sponsorship, partnerships and commercial activities, and one-third through ticket sales.

The organisers point to the fact that events across the city endeavour to engage as many people as possible.

Free outdoor events help the festival broaden its appeal by encouraging non-arts attendees to experience world-class events.

In 2011 the festival mounted 30 free events and tens of thousands of people came to them.

A spokesman for the festival said that, according to the latest available figures, the festival delivers £20 million to the economy each year.

She said: “In addition the profile and attention that Brighton Festival now delivers since the introduction of a guest director makes Brighton a world-class cultural destination.

“The strengths of the festival are the range and quality of events of an international standing and that we take a proactive lead on commissioning and producing new work that cannot be seen anywhere else in the UK, or that is special to Brighton.”

Andrew Comben, chief executive of Brighton Dome and Festival, said the decision to invite Aung San Suu Kyi as guest director this year paid dividends in terms of international and domestic impact.

This year saw Pride hold its first ticketed event in Brighton. Organisers say more than 30,000 revellers attended the Preston Park event, which was fully fenced.

Russell Allen, chairman of the Pride trustees, said: “Pride 2011 met the costs of the parade, the Preston Park event and the street party. Additionally, the event generated more than £4,000, which is distributed to LGBT causes.”