How Derby’s cultural offer is ‘gathering’ steam

Here, in his latest monthly column reflecting on the news over the past month, our Press and PR Executive Robin Johnson looks at the headlines.

Today, thousands of people will be descending on Derby for a major event – and will continue to do so over the weekend.

No, Oasis aren’t playing – although tickets for this particular event sold out just as fast.

I’m talking about The Greatest Gathering – a three-day celebration of 200 years of the modern railway being hosted at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane Works.

Basically, if you’re into railways then this event is bigger than anything the Gallagher brothers could ever put on.

It features more than 100 rolling stock exhibits from the past, present and future of the railways, with the Litchurch Lane site itself opening to the public for the first time in almost 50 years.

It will not only showcase the history of rail – but also Derby’s massive contribution to that history, underlining why the industry is so deeply embedded in our culture.

Despite being a sell-out for some time, here at Marketing Derby we’ve been running a number of stories as the excitement builds – including one about legendary music producer (and passionate railway modeller) Pete Waterman who will be making an appearance.

Of course, it’s great that someone like Pete is coming – but it’s even more exciting that so many people will be descending on Derby – some of whom may never have visited the city before.

Events like The Greatest Gathering put Derby on the national – and indeed, international map.

They give people a reason to come to Derby, which is what the city continuously strives to do.

With this in mind, I was delighted to report on the return of Derby Feste, which will take place towards the end of September after a year’s hiatus.

The offer of our existing venues is also vital when it comes to persuading people to get up off their sofas and venture into the city centre.

Yes, it’s been well documented that ‘new’ venues such as Vaillant Live and the revamped Market Hall are helping to draw people back in.

But it is great to see our existing cultural venues growing in confidence after enduring a pretty tough time in recent years.

For example, QUAD has decided to extend its opening hours after navigating a challenging nine months or so.

Meanwhile, Derby Museums is another that is showing confidence in Derby’s cultural appeal, as it looks to capitalise on what it describes as the ‘Year of Wright’.

It has recently launched a campaign, encouraging people to consider taking a ‘culture break’ in Derby and soak up the works of one of Derby’s most famous sons, the artist Joseph Wright.

Culture is a key ingredient when it comes to creating a successful city.

And it was certainly something that was discussed at this year’s Derby Property Summit, which took place in early July (my word, that seems a lifetime ago now).

Attracting more than 300 people, the event saw keynote speakers and panellists discuss the ingredients needed for a city to be successful – hence the title of this year’s event ‘The Alchemy of Cities’.

A question which the event attempted to answer was what does success look like?

Interestingly, it was a question which also came up at another event I attended last month, which was organised by the East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward.

As part of a series of meetings across the region, Mayor Claire held an event at the University of Derby’s Enterprise Centre, which brought together people from across the sectors, including a number of Marketing Derby Bondholders, to discuss what was needed to make Derby better.

We were invited to engage in table discussions – and one of the delegates on my table suggested that we should not be measuring our city’s success in economic terms, but in levels of ‘happiness’.

Of course, it’s always great to be able to report on the continuing economic success of the likes of Rolls-Royce – which there was during July, not least at the Paris Air Show.

But it’s kind of a hard thing to argue against, isn’t it? If everybody’s happy, then surely the goal has been achieved?

However, the reality is that not everybody is happy.

There is still much to do to get Derby where it needs to be – and that’s why the team here at Marketing Derby get out of bed every morning.

For me, personally, the equation is simple: culture equals happiness.

Culture is also for everyone. But in some instances, to access it we need to address the barriers – whether it be more money in our pockets (particularly if you want to buy a ticket to see Oasis) or having a transport system that is reliable and robust enough to get you to a show or the museum on time.

And that means we need all those other things – a strong economy, good businesses, better transport links and options, a decent, safe place to live etc. It’s all intrinsically linked.

Anyway, back to today. The important thing for Derby when it hosts major events like The Greatest Gathering is that people have a positive experience.

Those descending on the event over the next three days will be coming from all corners.

I hope they enjoy not only the event itself, but everything else Derby has to offer – the history, the friendly people, not to mention the real ale!

And don’t worry if you didn’t manage to get a ticket because a number of fringe events will be taking place across the city at places such as Derby Market Hall and the Museum of Making.

It will no doubt be busy at Litchurch Lane – but in the words of Liam and Noel, just ‘Roll With It’ – or should that be ‘Rolling Stock With It’?

Anyway, have a safe and productive August and I look forward to catching up with you again soon.