Amazing bands to bring down the curtain on The Good Business Festival

THE UK's biggest festival focused on Good Business will end on a celebratory note, with renowned Liverpool based acts She Drew the Gun and Zuzu set to headline the official closing night party. Performing at:- 'Content' in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, on Thursday, 24 March 2022, the singers will take to the stage to mark 3 day global summit's finale, which is in partnership with Evol. Commissioned by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, the festival will be held in venues across Liverpool City Centre from 22 March to 24 March 2022, tackling issues such as the climate crisis and helping businesses of all sizes to future proof themselves. And Wirral; born 'She Drew the Gun' and proud 'Scouser Zuzu' are among the confirmed acts for the festival's 'After Hours' schedule of events. Louisa Roach; aka:- 'She Drew the Gun' has built a solid reputation for using her music to advocate for change and the need to create a fairer, more tolerant society.

Louisa said:- "It's great that we've got a festival happening in the City which is challenging the idea that business is business, no matter what the environmental and social cost. This is a place to bring socially conscious business people together. We're really looking forward to playing and being a part of The Good Business Festival."

Liverpool born Singer SongWriter ZuZu, who was among the artists collaborating on the lockdown cover of All Together Now, is also keen to use her music to raise awareness of some of the issues being tackled at The Good Business Festival, including:- inclusivity and the environment. She said:- "I am really excited to play The Good Business Festival. It's a great thing happening in our City and I feel very grateful and proud to be a part of something which is giving people from a whole host of communities and industries a voice. Scousers are renowned for looking out for each other and the festival epitomises that."

The After Hours schedule will include a comedy night on Wednesday, 23 March 2022, with acts yet to be confirmed. Also lined up on the programme is:- 'Locked Away - Reflective Voices of Lockdown,' a specially curated orchestral performance from charity Music in Mind, The Regenda Group and Arts Council England, taking place at The British Music Experience, on Tuesday, 22 March 2022.

Featuring performances from composer John McHugh and an ensemble of musicians from The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the piece is a multimedia opera based on the speech of everyday life, showcasing reflective stories from recent lockdowns.

John McHugh, founder of Music in Mind, said:- "Music is everywhere. There's melody and rhythm in everything we say and the more emotional we become, the more the melodies seem to sing. 'Locked Away, Reflective Voices of Lockdown' has been 2 years in the making, in collaboration with The Regenda Group. We began by interviewing over 150 people on Zoom during the 1 lockdown and then moved to location filming with filmmaker Graeme Lycett and The Square 1 film crew as the restrictions eased. People spoke about a wide range of feelings; a lot of older people spoke about a sense of fear and isolation, while young people spoke about losing their freedom and hopes for the future. Teachers and parents expressed their worries about education and community, and leaders spoke about resilience. By far the most common theme, however, was the sense of togetherness, an appreciation of each other and a deep longing for fairness. I'm extremely excited to be presenting their thoughts to an audience with the musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at The Good Business Festival."

The social schedule will also include a curated film programme from Climate Crisis Film Festival, held at Liverpool Town Hall, on Tuesday, 22 March 2022. 'Yogabots' powered by Citrus Suite, will also be giving attendees free access to their APP for 1 week. YogaBots™ is a monthly subscription APP that includes hundreds of hours of live and on-demand content to address mental, physical and emotional health and wellbeing issues. Tickets to The Good Business Festival's social programme are accessible to festival ticket holders. For further information about the festival and to register for free tickets to The Good Business Festival, visit:-TheGoodBusinessFestival.Com.

Funding boost for City's cultural sector
Photography by AB Photography

SOME of Liverpool's much loved cultural organisations have received a funding lifeline which will create jobs, attract visitors and boost the local economy. On Friday, 4 March 2022, Cabinet has given the green light to award ₤2.712 million to 27 cultural organisations as part of the Culture and Arts Investment Programme (CAIP). The City Council funding will be invested in theatre, music events, festivals, visual arts and neighbourhood programmes that are representative of, and engage with, Liverpool's diverse communities. This means that the vital sector; which boosts the local economy by around ₤30 million; has experienced no reduction in City Council funding and can move forward with delivering events, exhibitions and shows which will help them recover and aim to get back to operating at Pre Pandemic levels.

Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Councillor Harry Doyle said:- "It goes without saying how valued culture and arts are in Liverpool and I am proud that we are able to invest in organisations which help drive economic growth, boost community pride and promote wellbeing across the City. Each of the 27 organisations play a vital role in the cultural fabric of our City; the programmes they curate, events they hold and performances they stage are engaging, entertaining, thought provoking, boundary pushing; exactly what Liverpool is renowned for. We know that Covid decimated this sector and we want to do as much as we can to help it revive and thrive. It's an exciting new chapter for the arts in Liverpool and the sector is are ready to welcome back visitors and showcase exceptional talent in an exceptional City."

Latest figures presented as part of the Cabinet report show just how hard-hit the City's art scene was by Covid19. In 2019/20 the funded organisations reached an audience of 2.7 million, dropping to just over 260,000 in 2020/21. Last year, recovery was slow but venues attracted around 1 million visitors.

During the height of the Pandemic the economic impact dropped by almost ₤5 million and nearly 100 jobs were lost. Those organisations receiving funding for 2022/23 are:- 20 Stories High, Africa Oyé, The Black-E, Collective Encounters, Comedy Trust, DaDa Disability and Deaf Arts, FACT, First Take, Homotopia, Liverpool Irish Festival, Liverpool Biennial, Everyman and Playhouse (LMTT), Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival, Metal Culture, Milapfestival Trust, Merseyside Dance initiative, Open Culture, Open Eye Limited, Pagoda Arts, Royal Court Theatre, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Squash Nutrition, Tate Liverpool, The Bluecoat, Tmesis Theatre, Unity Theatre, Writing on the Wall.

Mary Cloake, Chief Executive of the Bluecoat, said:- "Liverpool has demonstrated that it really understands the power of culture to connect communities and inspire individuals. This funding means that culture will remain central to the City's identity and its Post Pandemic recovery. It will ensure the Bluecoat can play its part by providing a creative home for art and artists, for the people of Liverpool and its visitors."

Michael Eakin, Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, said:- "Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is enormously grateful for the continued long term support and commitment shown by Liverpool City Council with its funding of culture. This support will help us to reach over 350,000 people with our concerts, over 70,000 young people making music in our learning programme and youth activity, and literally millions around the world through our recordings. We are proud to both serve and represent our City in our work, and we can only do it with this investment and support from Liverpool City Council."

Mark Da Vanzo, Chief Executive Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatres, said:- "Since 2008, Liverpool's Capital of Culture year, there has been an increasing sense of pride and support for our City's cultural organisations and individuals. We simply would not be the organisation we are today without the continued support of the City through the City Council's Culture Liverpool team. The fact that this support has been maintained through recent unprecedented times is testament to the hard work of our Councillors and officials and the value the people of Liverpool place in culture."

The CAIP programme contributes to a number of priorities outlined in the Council Plan which aims to make the City culturally diverse, internationally ambitious, empowered and authentic.