Birmingham 2022 Festival ‘delivered on inclusivity’, study finds

An evaluation into cultural events delivered as part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has found the programme delivered on inclusivity and involving local communities, despite previous claims it had ‘shut out’ creatives with a South Asian heritage.

Birmingham 2022 Festival’s overarching evaluation report – one of nine published to assess the impact of the cultural programme – states the festival “successfully made co-creation and inclusive practice integral to the programme”.

The report adds 83% of the projects in the festival programme involved local and regional residents in planning and delivering events, while 61% were designed to involve inclusive practice.

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Executive Producer of Birmingham 2022 Festival Raidene Carter told Arts Professional the reports “tell the story of what we can now all agree was an incredible festival and the positive impacts it had on participants, artists and audiences”.

“Inclusivity and generosity were at the heart of what we set out to do and achieve, and the reports highlight powerful impacts on communities representing ethnic diversity, gender, LGBTQIA+ and D/disability identities,” she added.

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community made up 8% of audience members, 11% of participants and 12% of volunteers, while 7% of audiences, 19% of participants and 18% of volunteers were disabled, neurodiverse or living with a long-term health condition.

Figures reporting ethnicity show 41% of audiences, 38% of all participants and 46% of volunteers came from a non-white background.

Last year, Birmingham-based cultural leaders raised concerns the festival was not representing the city’s diverse communities, particularly those from an Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani background.

The concerns led to the Birmingham Race Impact Group (BRIG) publishing a race report card on the games, which claimed organisers missed opportunities to include Birmingham’s diverse communities and had improve in areas including race equity, community engagement and accountability.

Arts Professional contacted members of BRIG to request comment on the content of the festival’s evaluation but did not receive a response.

Freelancers and staff

Analysis from the report found the percentage of freelancers and staff working at the festival from a non-white background was higher than percentage of non-white people living in the West Midlands.

41% of freelancers and 26% of staff came from a non-white background, compared to 19% of people from the West Midlands.

Some ethnicities appeared to be better represented than others. Almost a fifth (19%) of freelancers were from a Black or Black British background, which represent 4% of the West Midlands population, while the percentage of freelancers and staff from an Indian or Pakistani background – 7% and 5% – was lower than the West Midlands figure of 9%.

Figures also show 19% of freelancers and 16% of staff identified as disabled, neurodiverse or having long-term health conditions, compared to 23% of the West Midlands population 

The combined workforce was 4,954 including staff and freelancers, with an additional 1,315 volunteers contributing to the festival.

The evaluation report also suggests the festival managed to serve local communities. Three quarters of freelancers and almost nine-tenths (89%) of staff were from Birmingham and the surrounding West Midlands.

“The reports show the diversity of the individuals and communities we reached – including the artists we engaged right through to the local people and tourists who came out to enjoy the programme,” Carter commented.