Lakes arts festival is a magnet for cash

 An independent report has found than a street arts festival in the Lake District, funded by the private and public sector, made a “remarkable return on investment, far greater than anything found in most regular financial markets”. The report, from the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) at Manchester University, concluded that the Lakes Alive festival, held between March and June 2010, generated £3m of extra spending in Cumbria, more than two and half times the cost of putting on the events. Lakes Alive, created by Kendal Arts International with Manchester International Arts, received funding from Arts Council England, the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Northern Rock Foundation. It is one of the three Annual Legacy Programmes commissioned by Legacy Trust UK for WE PLAY, the Northwest cultural legacy programme for the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.