Greater Manchester is promising a more affordable and accessible annual TV Festival as the city prepares to take over from Edinburgh as host city from next year.
It inched out Newcastle and incumbent Edinburgh to win the competitive tender to stage the event from next year.
“Greater Manchester presented a vision for the Festival that combined genuine creative ambition and future-facing energy with practical accessibility and affordability for delegates,” said Campbell Glennie, chief executive officer of the TV Festival and the TV Foundation.
“This means we can radically reduce the costs associated with attending the Festival as well as the cost of passes.”
Fees for this year's final Edinburgh event, which takes place from 25 to 28 August, start at £829+VAT, with 100 day passes available for £52+VAT to out-of-work TV freelancers wanting to attend on either 26 or 27 August.
The festival is set to take place in locations around Manchester’s new St John’s creative and cultural district, which is part of wider plans to establish the region home to the strongest screen industry cluster outside London by 2028.
Manchester City Council recently launched a £10.5m Screen Production Fund to support TV and film made in the area with local facilities and crews.
The city recently hosted the inaugural Mythos Manchester TV and film event, which featured Andy Burnham and BBC iPlayer and channels boss Dan McGolpin among its speakers.
“We'll be working closely with partners to ensure we deliver not just an exceptional annual Festival - with our own uniquely Manchester twist - but an event that supports new collaborations and partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally, that have the growth, sustainability, and diversity of the screen industry at their heart,” said council leader Bev Craig, who is also deputy mayor for economy business and inclusive growth in Greater Manchester.
Festival board chair Fatima Salaria said that having established the event 50 years ago, Edinburgh represents “a powerful origin story” for the Festival.
“We respect that deeply, but this decision had to balance legacy with future opportunity,” she said. “The Festival now needs the right conditions, support and momentum for its next chapter; where it could have the strongest chance to grow and serve the widest part of the industry. For the board, that place was Greater Manchester.”
Main photograph - Manchester skyline by Martin Butler, licensed for use and further reuse under a Creative Commons Licence.
