Member Article

Pop-up events are making UK towns and cities more inclusive and diverse

Almost half of the public (47%) believe the UK is becoming more inclusive and welcoming thanks to the good range of public events that are regularly being held across the country.

A nationwide study of 1,000 people, conducted by ATG Access for its ‘Protecting the future of multifunctional cities’ report, found that a large proportion of residents (45%) think these events play a vital role in bringing communities together and create a sense of inclusivity, especially following recent terror attacks.

The research revealed that Wales came out top as being the best place to successfully hold local events in the community (71%), just ahead of London (67%) and the South East (64%).

With regards to the region that hosts the most diverse range of events, it comes as no surprise that the UK’s capital city came out on top according to 58% of the public, followed by Scotland (54%).

The most popular type of event that draws regular crowds to towns and cities are farmers markets, with half of the public (50%) having attended one in their local area in the last year.

Christmas proves to be a popular time of the year to host an event, with 47% of people confirming they attended a Christmas market in their area last year and a fifth (22%) said they attended their town’s annual Christmas light switch on.

Events that may come at a cost, such as a music event or one-off special performance, still attract a significant amount of interest, with over a third (36%) of people having attended at least one last year.

Gavin Hepburn, director at ATG Access, said: “Britain is well-known for being multicultural and inclusive and regularly hosts a vast array of events, from festivals and carnivals to charity runs. These events are a big part of what it means to be British - they play a vital role in creating a sense of community and give residents more reasons to come together and celebrate what their local area has to offer.

“With more people looking to attend markets, local sporting events and music concerts, councils need to ensure that they are investing in a diverse range of events to provide fun, interesting gatherings for all – this means providing events to meet the needs of all age groups, cultures and backgrounds.

“By hosting a variety of events, this will enable the city to become truly multifunctional and make full use of the spaces available to bring communities and visitors from further a field together to celebrate their way of life in spite of the high threat level.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ursula Hutchinson .