Portsmouth revels in £5.8m cash bonanza thanks to Victorious Festival

PORTSMOUTH has landed a £5.8m cash bonanza thanks to Victorious Festival, The News can reveal.
The first day of last year's Victorious Festival 2015 

Picture: Paul WindsorThe first day of last year's Victorious Festival 2015 

Picture: Paul Windsor
The first day of last year's Victorious Festival 2015 Picture: Paul Windsor

A dossier into the city’s premier music spectacle reveals it has brought about a massive boom in the economy.

The 99,658 spectators who poured through the gates at last year’s festival across Southsea Common, featuring Tinie Tempah, Basement Jaxx and 
The Flaming Lips, spent a staggering £3.4m.

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Organisers spent £987,500 putting the event on and it’s estimated £1.34m was made for the wider economy afterwards – bringing the total economic impact Victorious had on the region to £5.8m.

And festival bosses hope by clinching major stars including Oasis legend Noel Gallagher and Manic Street Preachers for this year’s line up, £10m will pour in.

Victorious co-organiser James Ralls said: ‘We are extraordinarily proud of the positive effect that Victorious Festival has on the perception outsiders have of our city and of the money and jobs it brings into the local economy.

‘Hopefully, we can get the total economic impact up to £10m a year for 2016. We always try to engage as much as possible with everyone in the area, and we are looking forward to doing the same this year with Victorious Festival and the Portsmouth Summer Show, which will both be growing and filled with more new content.’

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He added: ‘The fact we provide and control our own budgets means that, with the help of local people, we can make things happen for the local community that otherwise wouldn’t with the council’s current budget constraints.’

The 55-page report by Bluegrass Research into Victorious showed almost half of visitors – 45 per cent – now have a more positive view of the city, with 37 per cent saying they are now more likely to visit again.

Visitors each spent on average £76.83, the bulk of that going on eating and drinking – £39.18 – up from £38.40 in 2014.

Overseas spectators splashed out £192.21 and Portsmouth day trippers spent £63.36, compared with £47.91 the year before.

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Thirty-four per cent of visitors stayed in hotels – down from 38 per cent in 2014 – but the number of people staying away for two nights as opposed to just one rose from 34 per cent to 46 per cent.

Fifty-one per cent of visitors weren’t from Portsmouth.

The report says: ‘The research undertaken demonstrates that the festival was very well received by those who attended it.

‘They were increasingly positive about several of the organisational aspects of the event and continued to rate the festival highly overall; appreciate the value for money it represents; and were inclined to come to the festival again and to recommend it to others.’