BID backs the bid to attract national audience

BRINGING a broader and more mainstream audience to Milton Keynes is the aim of a significant investment in an advertising campaign by IF: Milton Keynes International Festival.

Previous festivals have relied on social media and other networking to promote themselves and draw their audience. Now, with support from MyMiltonKeynes Business Improvement District, IF organisers are taking their marketing national with a marketing campaign on the Sky network.

The BID, which represents levypaying employers within the city centre, has supported IF: Milton Keynes International festival from the beginning. Historically it has funded the volunteers who guide visitors around the events, exhibitions, performances and installations, providing their uniforms and transport around the city centre aboard the MyBus shuttle.

This year chief executive Melanie Beck wanted more.

“We did not just want to fund the volunteering so this year we have underwritten the cost of advertising the festival,” she says. “That has never been done before and I am hoping it is going to draw a wider group of people than we normally get.

“IF has grown organically in terms of its audience but giving this extra funding assistance will increase awareness of IF and we are looking to grow a bigger and more mainstream audience. The line-up this year is probably one of the best.”

The BID is of the view that IF is a major player in the development of the Milton Keynes economy and that of the wider region. “It is a huge opportunity for us to spread awareness of Milton Keynes as way more than a concrete jungle and showcasing it as a host of big events that attract acts from all over the world,” says Melanie.

“IF has a critical role in showcasing both the entertainment and the B2B offer in Milton Keynes and therefore there is an economic impact from that.”

The city community takes that on board at every IF, with scores offering their services as volunteers. This year more than 200 have rallied to the cause. “Everyone should get involved,” says Melanie. “IF is huge for our city. It has gone from one woman’s dream to a flourishing event with so many performers from across the world. People underestimate just what it brings.”

IF generates national coverage and certain to feature is Pasture with Cows, an installation of pastoral bliss in Fred Roche Gardens next to the Church of Christ the Cornerstone. Take a visit to see real cows - not the concrete beasts for which Milton Keynes is known - grazing in the gardens within an outsized picture frame.

Inspired by Old Master paintings of livestock, Pasture with Cows is the work of Belgian company Captain Boomer and is being staged with the BID’s considerable help.

Melanie is looking forward most to Place des Anges, which promises a truly spectacular finale to this year’s festival. “I feel that this is going to be a real ‘Wow’ event,” she says. “It sums up what IF brings. It always brings something exceptional that you never expected to see but remember for a long time.”