Design Event 07:

Evaluation

The festival took place from 11th to 28th October and consisted of 28 events in total, 23 exhibitions, a series of 4 talks in association with NESTA and 2 tours. Overall there were 43,245 visitors across the festival who attended exhibitions in order to see new work and because they were interested in design.

Across the festival, 52% of events showcased regional talent and 48% national and international talent.

Across the festival the 187 curators and designers were involved with 153 new commissions produced alongside existing work being shown.

37 businesses were supported with curatorial advice, sourcing venues, developing partnerships, project development and marketing support. 36 of these were from the region.

From January to October 2007 there were 14,160 unique visitors to the website resulting in 578,302 hits. In October alone there were 4,255 unique visitors.

Across the festival more than 40 volunteers took part, with roles including exhibition installation, invigilation, and event administration. Volunteers averaged 20 hours over the festival period with some volunteers working more than 30 hours. Most volunteers were students from Northumbria University and Newcastle College, but there were also volunteers who were in employment.