Supporting Culture and Sport in Lancashire.
Expressions of Lancaster pledged £2001 month ago
Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.
Festa Italia/Lancaster International film Festival is a celebration of the history and heritage of Lancaster, bringing the best of Italian food, drink, entertainment and engineering to the city.
Festa Italia is an entirely free event in Lancaster. This event showcases all the best of Italian cusine, engineering and entertainment. Attracting just under 70,00 visitors to the city in 2023. This year we expanded to join forces with Cinema Italiano and Complitaly to bring Lancaster International Film Festival to the city as part of Festa Italia. At Festa Italia we provide entertainment throughout the day, from Opera and traditional Italian dance to our Bambino Zone with activities aimed at our younger visitors. This is paired with super cars/bikes from Ferrari, Ducati, MKV Augusta, Lambretta and Vespa for those with an interest in something speedier! We limit the number of stalls at the event so that both the stall holders and businesses in the city can benefit and capitalize on the crowds. We collaborate closely with Lancaster city council to help the local economy and have brought elements to the city that people may not usually have access to or could not usually afford.
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
Lancaster Festa Italia is the biggest Italian event in the Northwest. It is an entirely free to attend event, accessible for all, with activities and entertainment for everyone from the very young to the young at heart. We market it across social media platforms as well as through Visit Lancashire and in the Lancashire and North West magazine with a distribution of approximately 39,000 copies per month. The event is spread across the city to incorporate all areas and give as many businesses as stall holders the chance at a successful days trading. With entertainment from different types of arts, that people may not usually have access to, giving a diverse program rich in Italian culture. 2023 included Lancaster International Film Festival, with coverage both in the UK and Italy of up and coming film makers who are now representing the city at Venice Film Festival. We are looking to expand 2024 to a 3 day event for an even bigger better Festa Italia and LIFF for Lancaster.
Steps to get it done:
As Festa Italia brought in just under 70,000 visitors this year it has a very definite impact on footfall and the economy with some businesses saying it was there busiest Sunday of the year! We restrict the amount of stalls at the event for this very reason as we want everyone to benefit from the crowds on the day. We are supporting the arts and culture with a varied schedule of entertainment on the day from opera to dance and historical re-enactments from Gladiators as well as all the activities in our Bambino Zone. As we are expanding to a 3 day event for 2024 we will be looking for a group of volunteers to help it all run smoothly as the Totally Local Lancaster team consists of 3 people putting all of this together on top of our own jobs/businesses. We want to bring as many people to the city and get them to stay which is why we want to expand to a whole weekend next year in the hope it brings people in for a longer time spending more in the city during the event.
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Whoop, 10 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Whoop, 10 people have pledged since fundraising began!
Supporting Culture and Sport in Lancashire.
How will the money be spent?Total £19,698
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Overfunding
This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:
Total £19,698
Our Volunteer List
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VolunteerLancaster is about 70% small independent businesses and it’s the independent businesses that give any town or city its ‘usp’, but during covid these small businesses felt under threat and even isolated. In November 2020 we launched a Facebook Group called ‘Totally Local Lancaster’. Our aim was to share as many of Lancaster’s businesses Facebook posts onto the group, to promote the many fabulous businesses. It grew far quicker than we could have ever imagined. Businesses stated that this group had given them a sense of “community”. In 2021 we created a CIC with a view to putting on events in the city to help further promote and showcase all that the city of Lancaster has to offer. Totally Local Lancaster is run by 3 Directors all of whom work voluntarily to promote the city of Lancaster. Two of our Directors are independent business owners in the city so understand the needs of the customers as well as the highs and lows of having your own business. Our 3rd Director is not a business owner but is an experienced event’s organiser so between us we feel we have the perfect team to be best placed to help both the city and businesses of Lancaster. We have run Festa Italia in Lancaster for 2 years now and the footfall increase between the 2022 and 2023 event has increased by 20% with a significant increase in spending in the city. All the stall holders who attend this event have been in attendance for both years and most have already booked for the 2024 event. We are always looking for ways to expand what we can to do for the city and businesses. Our Festa Italia event expanded this year to include the Lancaster International Film Festival and we worked with international contacts and professionals. For 2024 we are looking to expand the event into a 3 day event instead of the 1 day and once more include the Film Festival with even more awards and international coverage. The event would take place across the bank holiday weekend with even more entertainment and stalls and we would be looking to include local bands/singers on the Monday as well as the Opera and Dance we already have for the event.
We are looking to keep collaborating with local businesses to provide excellent links within the community for Festa Italia as well as liaising with the council to make sure the event and group in general stay successful and keep work for the benefit of the city and those we represent.
Project Owner: Totally Local Lancaster The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
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