Agenda item

Verbal update by the Director of Culture, Heritage and Libraries.

The Director of the City of London Festival introduced himself to the Committee for the first time and spoke of his vision for the future of the Festival.

The Director highlighted a change of emphasis he wanted to engineer for the Festival towards pop-up venues, new and informal venues alongside historic formal locations, the introduction of spoken word and other literary elements and the showcasing of the City's great depth of choral talent.

In response to the Chairman's question, the Director responded that the climate for private sponsorship was slowly improving and the Festival was looking to new media partners to enhance awareness within London.

In response to a Member's question, the Director responded that his team were working closely with City Libraries to progress the literary element of the Festival.