“Every place has its time. A moment of magic where energies converge and the extraordinary becomes possible.” These were the words of the Chief Executive of the Culture Company 2013, Shona McCarthy, as she unveiled the programme of events offered in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in its culture year.
Londonderry, Derry or ‘Legenderry’ as it is affectionately known by the city’s convention bureau, won its bid to be 2013 City of Culture ahead of other UK cities Birmingham, Sheffield and Nottingham. The significant social and economic benefits the City of Culture accolade offers, will transform Northern Ireland’s second city as it leaves a troubled past behind.
Once used to attracting all the wrong kind of attention during the Troubles, Londonderry today
is a shadow of its former self. The Bloody Sunday incident following a civil rights march in 1972, in which 14 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers, spurred sectarian murders, riots and bombings in the city and years of unrest.
However as McCarthy notes: “There was euphoria when Londonderry won the first UK City of Culture title. It followed a trajectory of vital milestones.”
McCarthy was referring to the Hume/Trimble Nobel Peace Prize which was awarded jointly to John Hume and David Trimble in 1998 for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland, UK Queen Elizabeth’s first publicised visit to Dublin, since the 1960s, in her Jubilee year and UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s public apology in 2010 for what he said was the “unjustified and unjustifiable killing” of the 14 civil rights marchers on Bloody Sunday.
“Londonderry is a place where ‘hope and history rhyme’,” she added.
A £16m programme of events will be held in Londonderry in its Culture year. Many of the events will take place in Ebrington Square, a former army barracks in the city centre, which is being transformed into a multi-purpose public space and venue.
“Culture and arts have a huge role to play in empowering citizens, in tackling the long-term structural inequalities faced by Londonderry and in helping build a sustainable economic development model for the future,” says Northern Ireland’s Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Caral Ni Chuilin.
The Royal Ballet will make its first visit to Northern Ireland in more than a decade this year. The Turner Prize and the National Youth Orchestra will also take up residency in the city as part of the 2013 programme of events.
Meetings and events
For meeting planners looking to hold an event in Londonderry, and maximise the opportunities available in its City of Culture Year, the city can comfortably host small to medium sized conferences for up to around 400 people. The centre’s main venues are the Millenium Forum, City Hotel, Hastings Everglades Hotel and The Pavilion at Ebrington. The Millenium Forum has space for up to 1,040 delegates. It has 21 function rooms that can cater for events from conferences, seminars and fairs to exhibitions, banquets and press launches. The main auditorium
is a multi-purpose three-level theatre with moveable seating on ground level, meaning it can be used not only as a theatre-style lecture hall, but also a 500sqm exhibition hall or gala
dinner venue.
City Hotel has 146 bedrooms with a selection of doubles, twins and suites. It also has a dedicated conference and banqueting floor providing nine meeting rooms. The meeting spaces are able to accommodate up to 350 delegates theatre-style with space for breakout areas or up to 310 for private dining and 450 for a cocktail party.
The four-star Hastings Everglade Hotel is situated on the banks of the River Foyle and is a short drive from the beaches and rugged hills just outside of the city. The hotel offers 64 bedrooms. Its Grand Ballroom is one of the largest hotel suites in the North West of the country and can host up to 400 for large conferences, exhibitions, banquets and fashion shows. It also has parking for 200 vehicles onsite.
The Pavilion at Ebrington is a new temporary venue built by Arena Group that will host more
than 40 major events during Londonderry’s year as City of Culture. It is a 40m x 75m structure, which is similar in style and construction to the Wembley Arena Pavilion in London.
For those looking for more unique venues within the city, Guildhall is an atmospheric neo-Gothic building dating back to 1890. It can host up to 220 for a gala dinner. It houses one of the largest organs in Europe, which is comprised of over 3,000 pipes.
The four-star Beech Hill Country House Hotel which offers 27 bedrooms and five meeting rooms able to host up to 100 delegates is also a unique option. The Beech Hill has a strong connection with the US market as over 750 Marines were stationed there during World War Two.
Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau’s (DVCB) Business and leisure Tourism Executive, Aoife Thomas, tells CMW: “Our recent City of Culture and Lonely Planet accolades (Lonely Planet put Londonderry in its top 10 list of places across the world to travel to in 2013) have really given us a competitive advantage and assisted us in securing a number of conferences.
“The city will host the prestigious Turner Prize exhibition and awards ceremony in 2013 and this will really raise our profile within the cultural, arts and media industry. We lost a bid to win the Arts Marketing Association conference, but I feel with all the recent developments and accolades in the city we are now in a much better position to bid again.”
Other big conference wins for the city in 2013 include; The Media Communication and Cultural Studies Association for 250 UK delegates, the International Rotary Peace Conference for 1,000 international delegates, the European Business Innovation Centre Annual Congress for 500 international delegates, the National Association of Medical Education Management for 100 UK delegates and the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers for 75 UK delegates.
The UK is Londonderry’s main target for conferences and its main competitors are other key UK cities. DVCB works closely with Business Tourism Ambassadors to enhance the city’s competitiveness within the UK conference market, particularly in the academic and medical association sectors.
DVCB has recently launched a subvention scheme aimed at raising the profile of Londonderry as a meetings destination. The scheme, which has a full set of criteria, also offers the opportunity to apply for civic hospitality within the surroundings of the Guildhall.
Thomas says: “There is a unique cultural offering in Londonderry and our recent UK City of Culture accolade and Lonely Planet listing really highlight the rich heritage this destination has to offer any conference or meeting held in the city.”
This was first published in the Issue 70 of CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
