UK lacks a major vision in hosting major cultural events

 

Today it was argued that the UK government often lacked an overall vision and direction from the government to fully capitalise on the opportunities and benefits of hosting major cultural and sporting events. A DCMS report cites that often the aims of the major event were not very clear and could be misinterpreted very easily.

After the 8 month-long celebrations of the Brexit event i.e. the Unboxed festival, many have pointed out that the £120 million investment in the festival has been criticised as a wasteful and irresponsible spending of public money.

The government also has admitted that it did not have a clear idea of the hosting of the festival. Similar problems were noticed during the case of the 2022 Commonwealth Games that was to be in Birmingham.

The DCMS committee urges the British government to be clear regarding its goals it wants to achieve by hosting these events. A long term planning is essential before the hosting of these events is very essential. The UK City of Culture must have guaranteed funding. The government must establish an independent regulator for English football before hosting the Euro 2028.

Julian Knight, the DCMS committee chairman states that though the United Kingdom has a tradition of hosting sporting and cultural events unless the authorities urgently addresses this lack of strategy and vision, the government will be at the risk of losing the benefits that such an event can hold.

The DCMS committee report also suggests that the government must also work with the partnership of the industry leaders to develop a comprehensive plan to host future cultural and sporting events.

Tags: events, MICE, DCMS, UK