Plymouth fireworks bring £9 million to city

Summer Sessions helped foster carer campaign and grassroots' bands too

Publicity generated by the British Fireworks Championship in Plymouth is worth more than £9 million to the city it has been claimed.

The event, which has been held in Plymouth since 1997, was attended by 100,000 people in August over two days.

More than 41,000 people tuned into a live stream and 548,000 were reached on social media.

Answering a question during a meeting of Plymouth City Council about the benefits to the city from the big events on the Hoe, council leader Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) said there are many.

“It’s estimated that the amount of publicity generated by the British Firework Championships is worth £9.29 million. That’s big numbers, a big event and we hope to keep it in Plymouth for many years to come,” he said.

The free event encourages guests to the city’s hotel and diners to restaurants and cafes, boosting the local economy.

Plymouth Summer Sessions, hosted by retail company TK MAXX on the Hoe in June, brought artists such as Tom Jones, Bryan Adams, Sting, Blondie and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

The council wants to repeat the music event next year and is liasing with organisers Live Nation about a five-year deal.

“The summer sessions saw tens of thousands of people in Plymouth over a four-day period to watch some of the biggest acts on the planet playing on Plymouth Hoe,” Cllr Evans continued.

“Live Nation had a team of more than 100 people who needed hotels and B&Bs between 7 and 20 June, while they were building and taking down the show.”

He said Plymouth City Council’s streets’ team undertook traffic management, which helped to keep money in the city and the commercial team was responsible for waste management and cleaning.

“We were also able to advertise foster caring in Plymouth to thousands of people who visited and there were plenty of grassroots performance slots for Plymouth local bands. This is an opportunity some of them will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Cllr Alison Raynsford (Lab, St Peter and the Waterfront) asked about the benefits for the Hoe Neighbourhood Forum.

“Whilst I think most of us expected to see a financial benefit, it’s good to hear about all those other things, whether it’s for foster carers or local bands. I think it is a thoroughly good thing which Plymouth supports.”