Agenda item

 

To receive and consider the presentation which provides a Review of Events over the year 2025-26.

 

 

At the Chair’s invitation, Councillor Marshall, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Green Spaces (Cabinet Member), introduced the item and expressed pride in the wide range of events and festivals which were delivered by the Events team in 2025. The Events team also supported delivery of the Children’s Capital of Culture (CCoC) programme over the festival year, enabling over 500,000 people to participate in CCoC events across the borough.

 

The Cabinet Member stressed that events were vital in bringing communities together and building cohesion. The events programme over the past year had garnered positive media attention and increased civic pride in Rotherham. The Cabinet Member acknowledged that not every year could be a busy festival year and that the events team would look to build on progress made over the coming year.

 

Leanne Buchan, Head of Creative Programming & Engagement, took Members through the presentation, highlighting that whilst it provided an overview of the work of both the Events team and the CCoC team, they were separate teams.

 

The Rotherham Culture Strategy was adopted in 2019 and would come to an end in 2026. At the time the strategy was developed, Rotherham’s participation figures were 10% below the national average so one of the key drivers under that strategy had been to host “Amazing Events”. Consultation with Members had taken place in 2019 on the key objectives of the Strategy which were - promoting community cohesion, increasing civic pride and improving the profile and reputation of the town. Over the last five years of the Strategy, the events programme had grown and had provided opportunities to engage with communities and audiences from both within Rotherham and outside.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement stressed that whilst the events themselves represented the visible output, the input and significant work of teams behind the scenes to deliver events also deserved recognition. The Events team provided community event support via the Rotherham Event Safety Advisory Group (RESAG) – e.g event applications processed, advice on fundraising, risk management and insurances provided. Codes of practice around sustainability and accessibility were also being developed. It was reported that the Events team also regularly worked with a range of other partners in delivering events, such as Flux Rotherham (Flux), who was represented at the meeting by Helen Jones (Director, Creative People & Places Programme).

 

The types of events delivered over 2025-26 were broken down as follows:-

1)      Borough events - large-scale mass audience events which could attract audiences in excess of 10,000, such as the Rotherham Show, Bonfire Night and the Christmas Lights switch on;

2)      Town centre events – aimed to specifically drive footfall into the town centre, such as the Roots Rotherham Street Carnival and the WoW festival;

3)      Civic events - aligned to national commemoration, such as Remembrance Day and Holocaust Memorial Day; and

4)      Major one-off events - such as the CCoC programme.

 

For the borough events, the combined attendance throughout 2025 ranged from 63,000 to 117,000. The economic impact varied but the Rotherham Show was particularly successful in 2025, as for every £1 that the council spent, it saw between £13 - £14 return to the local economy. This was higher than the average national return for events, which was between £7 - £8 return for every £1 spent.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement talked Members through the attendance figures within the presentation. These had been calculated by taking the overall amalgamated figure for visitors and participation across Culture, Sport and Tourism and applying that proportionally to the events. Both the Rotherham Show and Bonfire Night event had exceeded their targets but the Christmas Lights switch on had been below target, largely due to poor weather on the night. Estimated participation had increased at the Christmas Lights swich on, in spite of lower attendance figures, and participation had increased significantly at the Rotherham Show.

 

The focus of the larger scale town centre events was to increase footfall, to reconnect communities and to improve perceptions of safety amongst particular target groups, such as young people, women and girls. Combined attendance at town centre events was around 30,000, which marked significant growth on figures of around 10,000 three to four years ago. The town centre events tended to generate a lower economic impact but still represented around £3.64 for every £1 spent by the council spends, with a large proportion of that going back to support local businesses.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement explained that community events were not organised by the council but were supported through the event applications programme. 62 applications for events taking place on council land were processed across 19 wards in 2025. It had been identified that in 2025, no events on council land had taken place across the following wards:- Aughton & Swallownest; Dalton and Thrybergh; Rawmarsh East, Thurcroft & Wickersley and Kilnhurst and Swinton East. As part of targeted engagement activities, the Events team would look to prioritise engagement in those areas to encourage increased participation. Boston Castle ward had the highest number of events, as it includes the town centre. Flux had been involvement in engagement work in a number of wards which had led to more communities coming forward to the council with proposals for their own events.

 

It was explained that attendance and participation numbers for the key civic events tended to remain steady as there was a loyal audience base that returned each year.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement shared positive social media comments and commented that the reputation of Rotherham in delivering high quality cultural events was gaining publicity from media outlets wider than the local press, including the BBC and ITV. This was significant for pride and cohesion in the borough.

 

It was explained that a significant amount of funding from outside sources had been secured to assist in delivery of the events programme. For example, almost half of the budget for the Rotherham Show had come from Arts Council England. There was also an element of commercial funding via trade stalls. With regard to town centre events, funding had come from a range of sources, with a large proportion from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The major, one-off events had a significant impact in terms of the visitor economy and provided opportunities for all residents of the borough to experience things that they might not otherwise have been able to access.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement took Members through the programme of special events to mark the CCoC year, picking out the following highlights:

1)      Otherham  - which took place in the first month of the programme over five sites across the town centre, with five large scale projections that had been written and created with young people.

2)      Roots Street Carnival and parade - saw attendance grow from 6,000 to 11,000 in the CCoC festival year.

3)      One Voice - the annual music singing festival saw a big uplift in participation in 2025, from around 750 participants to 1,500 children and young people who took part in the event via their schools.

4)      School Baton Relay and Festival of Sport - was an inspiring event where 84 schools participated in a 10-day baton relay across the borough, culminating in the Festival of Sport at Herringthorpe Stadium

5)      RHS Flower Show at Wentworth Woodhouse – some of the gardens on display at the Flower Show had been designed by children and young people and after the event, the designs were given back to local schools.

6)      Uplift Urban Sports Festival - had a much larger presence in 2025 and expanded to take in parkour, dance and DJ performances.

7)      Rotherham Opera - was a high-profile event where 2,000 children and young people were able to work with the Royal Ballet and Opera to performing stories they had designed and created over two days.

 

The CCoC programme of events resulted in 513,709 participations from children and young people across the borough, with 83,743 active participations. This represented an engaged audience who had experienced an event and would hopefully go on to engage and participate in something else. The council also provided crucial signposting to 75 other events and activities that took place across the borough. This increase in active participation helped to develop and build volunteering opportunities, with 651 volunteering opportunities provided throughout the festival year, resulting in the council now having access to 86 registered volunteers across Culture, Sport and Tourism.

 

The Events team had taken some time to assess which events had worked well during the CCoC festival year and should be taken forward in future years. As a result, the projected programme for 2026-27, which was due to commence on 1^st April 2026, showed the inclusion of some of the more successful events, such as Otherham and the recent projection-led Rotherham Loves Music, which would become an annual Winter Lights Festival. A new annual St. George's Day celebration was also planned for April.

 

Some events which had not achieved the hoped for footfall and participation and therefore could not justify the cost of the logistics involved would continue,  but outside of the town centre and would be more community-based, such as the Signals Music Festival and WoW Rotherham.

 

With regard to KPIs for measuring success going forwards, the Events team would look to start tracking the contribution of events to the visitor economy - Rotherham’s event audiences were roughly made up of 70% residents to 30% visitors. Contributions to health and wellbeing in supporting volunteering and participation opportunities could also be measured as a way of reducing isolation and loneliness Press coverage had been tracked throughout the CCoC year and this could be continued. The Events team would also look at how they could more accurately track the impact of events on community cohesion. Performance targets for 2026-27 Events under the Council Plan were to increase visitor numbers to 140,284 visitors and increase participation in cultural activities to 26,350.

 

As a closing comment, Helen Jones from Flux commented that Flux received an incredible amount of support from the council’s Events team and wider Culture, Sport & Tourism team, and would not be able to deliver such ambitious, high-quality work without them.

 

The Chair invited Members of IPSC to raise questions and queries on the Events Review 2025-26and in the ensuing question and answer session the following points were raised:-

 

Councillor Lelliott asked for confirmation as to what level participation figures were now at, compared to the national average. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement confirmed that participation figures were now at 4% below the national average, so were moving in the right direction but that it was taking some time to get up to that level.

 

In a supplemental question, Councillor Lelliott asked what the Events team intended to do to further embed community engagement with smaller community-run groups. Whilst it had been encouraging to see the partnerships with well-known local organisations such as Wentworth Woodhouse and Grimm & Co, Councillor Lellott felt that opportunities had been missed to engage with local, grass-roots community groups.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement commented that links had been made with local community groups but acknowledged that more work could be done to broaden engagement. The engagement work was relatively new to the Events team as they had previously commissioned events. The Roots Festival was the first time where the event had been organised in collaboration with local groups and this did have a positive impact on engagement and attendance figures.

 

The Chair asked if there was a specific plan to target community groups. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement responded that there was a plan to specifically target those wards and areas where no event applications had been submitted, in order to try and understand the possible barriers to engagement. With regard to the Rotherham Show, postcode data had been collected so that would enable the team to look at which postcode areas and wards were less well represented at events.

 

In a further question, Councillor Lelliott asked for confirmation as to how attendance data was captured per event, to ensure that there was no double counting. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement explained that it was difficult to accurately capture visitor numbers but that engagement and participation data could be captured more accurately as a clicker was used to count at the point at which visitors engage or participate, for example in a workshop. There may be some visitors who had attended multiple events but this was a good reflection on engagement if people were returning.

 

Councillor Lelliott also asked whether there was any data on the impact of events on town centre businesses. Anecdotally, Councillor Lelliott had received reports that some town centre businesses took the decision to close on event days as they felt that they did not benefit them.

 

Helen Jones from Flux commented that whilst many town centre businesses had decided to close, one business that had stayed open for the recent events had reported their best takings. Flux was currently looking at the responses to surveys sent out after events, where many who attended had commented that it would have been good to have coffee vans available in the town centre for events because many businesses were closed. It was acknowledged that work would be done to better communicate with local businesses the possible benefits of staying open for events. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement further commented that it remained challenging for town centre businesses as the hours of evening events did not always align with their regular opening hours, leading to additional staffing costs. The Town Centre Manager had carried out a lot of work engaging with town centre businesses prior to event days.

 

In a final question on CCoC, Councillor Lelliott felt that engagement with communities and groups in more deprived areas could have been better as more affluent families were more likely to proactively attend cultural events. What would be done in the future to ensure that children from more deprived backgrounds had the access and means to attend events?

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement confirmed that once the CCoC festival year closed at the end of March, the Events team would work on embedding the connections made with community groups in order to try and engage them at an earlier stage when developing future events. It was hoped that increased engagement would also assist in overcoming some of the barriers which prevent people from attending events. Whilst the majority of council-run events were free to attend, there would always be add-on costs such as transport and food etc.

 

Councillor Yasseen echoed the comments of Councillor Lelliott regarding improved engagement and commented that the Events team could do more to identify the gaps where greater outreach work could be carried out with underrepresented groups. Councillor Yasseen was also aware of groups who had wanted to run events but had found the “red tape” involved in setting them up too restrictive and mentioned the Rotary Club as an example. Councillor Yasseen felt that more work could be done in capacity building with smaller organisations to support them to deliver events to the residents they represent.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement confirmed that the Events team were very keen to support local groups to be able to deliver local events and there were plans to review the event application process to consider how it could be more accessible to local providers.

 

The Chair asked whether, in the spirit of “one council”, the Events team received good support from other council departments in their work in delivering events. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement acknowledged that there was often “red tape” encountered but that this was usually due to strict safety regulations and was not obstructive but necessary. RESAG included representatives from the emergency services and there were strict regulations around the amount of first aid available at an event. The Events team worked closely with the litter picking and street cleansing teams around events and the Communications team provided support, but with limited capacity. As a result, external providers were often commissioned using the marketing budget for each event.

 

The Chair asked what Members could do to support with event delivery? Helen Jones from Flux commented that a lot of help and support was available in the town centre but that the same level of support was not always visible in specific wards and neighbourhoods, which often depended on the capacity of the Neighbourhood Officers. Where support and collaboration were forthcoming in local neighbourhoods, the outcomes were impressive, such as the Maltby High Wire Festival in 2025.

 

Councillor Ahmed complimented the Events team on the success Rotherham Show in 2025, which had grown bigger and better in recent years on less budget. As a representative of the BAME community, Councillor Ahmed commented on the improvement in community engagement at the Rotherham Show, stating that there had been a marked increase in requests for stalls in the Equality & Diversity gazebo. Councillor Ahmed also highlighted the addition of the sensory room at Clifton Park Museum as a hugely positive development.

 

Councillor Ahmed asked whether service felt it was beneficial to commission groups to lead on activities or whether it was better to keep it in house? The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement responded that it would depend on the activity and the capacity and capability of the relevant group but highlighted the recent development in the capacity of BAME groups as an example where good commissioning relationships were now in place.

 

Councillor Allen mentioned the gaps in delivery of events across the new annual events calendar (at page 46 of the Agenda Pack) and commented that it would be a shame if there were no summer activities such as “Summer of Play” planned for families during the summer holidays, where attendance and engagement rates could be high. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement confirmed that events were planned for the 2026 summer holidays but would not be in the town centre, as footfall for these events had previously not been strong enough. As the footfall was generally better when events were taken out into the community, delivery across the borough would be the focus for this summer holidays’ events.

 

Councillor Sheppard thanked officers for the incredible work and progress that had been done in Rotherham with regard to events and commented that other towns and cities would be envious of the output. Councillor Sheppard commented that the suggested KPIs going forward looked strong and made particular reference to the KPI regarding health and wellbeing and the link to the important work that volunteers do to support the delivery of events.

 

Councillor Sheppard asked if it was possible to track the path of those who had engaged in cultural events or volunteered and whether they had gone on to a career or further participation in the culture sector? Councillor Sheppard commented that it was important to celebrate local success in these pathways.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement responded that it was not possible to track individuals who had attended an event or participated in a workshop as the council did not hold that level of personal data. However, it would be possible to track the journey of young artists who had received mentoring and support, and also trainees and volunteers who had helped to deliver events. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement confirmed that data around the onward career path of these groups could be provided to Councillor Sheppard.

 

Chris Siddall, Head of Sport, Leisure and Strategic Partnerships (Head of Sport), provided some more information on the additional support provided for community events via RESAG, which meets every month. Around 40 different events went through the process in 2025, whereby organisations approached RESAG to ask for support from the emergency services, Licensing, the Culture & Tourism team and Public Health to confidently manage and deliver events safely. It had been noted that the number of applications had increased recently, with meetings sometimes taking place twice a month. One recent success story was highlighted, the Wickersley 10k race, which had just taken place the previous weekend. The event had only run for the first time last year but had doubled in size and RESAG had assisted the community organiser to further build and develop it to become a major event for the borough.

 

The Chair asked whether any apprenticeships had been created to support the Events team. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement confirmed that 160 paid traineeships had been created to support CCoC. There was not sufficient funding to continue with this number of traineeships after the CCoC year, but some alumni roles had been created with the Events team and other partners involved in the delivery of CCoC events, so opportunities had been created within the culture sector in Rotherham.

 

Councillor Jones asked how many external event providers had made applications to host events within the borough? In order to create an “experience led” town centre, Councillor Jones commented that Rotherham would need to attract bigger, wider public events to increase footfall and would need help from external providers to deliver this. Councillor Jones reported that some viewed events in Rotherham as a “closed shop” and asked how the Events team planned to attract external providers rather than the “usual suspects” of Rotherham-based partners.

 

The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement explained that it would be difficult to answer that question in numbers. There had been 62 event application packs issued but these could range from small-scale community events to large events such as the Rotherham Show. The events which had gone through RESAG tended to involve audiences of 3,000 or more and could be subject to higher safety criteria. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement was not aware of anyone who had struggled to deliver an event in Rotherham but would be happy to talk to them if Councillor Jones could provide any information.

 

Councillor Jones questioned the accuracy of the footfall figures. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement explained that there were different methods depending on where the event was located. In the town centre, there were footfall cameras which would monitor footfall in the three weeks prior to an event and then use a formula to calculate any increase in footfall over the period of the event. These figures were not wholly accurate as the same person could walk past a camera six times, but the data was helpful in ascertaining whether footfall was increasing or declining and in assessing safety requirements. No footfall count was taken for the Rotherham Show or Bonfire Night, but these events were split into zones and each member of staff in charge of a zone would carry out an hourly head count.

 

Councillor Jones further commented that in the bar chart of events for Rotherham West ward, it stated there had been 5 events but, as Ward Councillor, they had only been aware of 4 which had taken place. Service confirmed that they would provide Councillor Jones with further information on the events which had taken place in this ward outside of the meeting.

 

In an additional question, Councillor Jones queried why less events were planned to take place in 2026-27 when additional budget had just been approved to support the delivery of events. The Head of Creative Programming & Engagement explained that the overall number of events planned had not decreased but that some would be re-worked to take place outside of the town centre and into communities. With the additional approved budget, the Events team would be able to enhance the outreach offer to enable them to carry out more work within communities. There had previously not been the capacity to do this.

 

In a final question regarding communications, Councillor Jones commented that communications around the recent Rotherham Loves Music Festival had been poor and that there needed to be a more joined up approach to marketing and communications for events to ensure that local businesses felt that they were being included in partnership rather than excluded. 

 

The Cabinet Member commented that part of the reason why additional budget had been approved for the Events team, was to increase resource and enable them to improve on making connections and communicating more effectively.

 

The Chair thanked officers for their input and Members for the questions asked.

 

Resolved:-

 

1.    That the contents of the presentation providing an Events Review 2025-26be noted; and

 

(Councillor Sheppard declared a personal interest in Minute No. 53 (Events Review 2025-26) on the grounds that they were the former Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member with responsibility for this Service within the last 12 months.)