Details of interim results from research, surveys and polling have outlined the scale and reach of the largest UK-wide cultural festival ever staged, engaging with larger audiences than the Festival of Britain.

As the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad the London 2012 Festival ran from 21 June – 9 September and offered an opportunity for people across the UK to participate in events linked to the celebration of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  

Participation at London 2012 Festival events topped 19.8million with 16.5million attendances coming from free events including All The Bells, Bandstand Marathon, BBC Radio 1 Hackney Weekend, BT River of Music and many more.

The final figures show that 621 productions and projects in the London 2012 Festival resulted in 13,006 performances and events at 1,270 venues across the UK.  The Festival contained more than 200 commissions, 160 world and UK premieres and has left a legacy of 176 permanent artworks.

The Festival featured leading UK and international artists in once-in-a-lifetime projects and events taking place in communities across the UK.  Polls and audience surveys show that 70% of attendees at London 2012 Festival events say the event exceeded their expectations and 60 % of attendees stated that this was the most exciting Festival the UK has ever seen.  

A key aim of the London 2012 Festival was to use the power of the Games to engage new audiences with the arts. Over half a million people signed up to London 2012 to receive information on cultural events linked to the Games, and polling shows that 20% of all UK respondents (the equivalent of more than 10 million people) have been personally inspired to take part in more cultural activities in the future, with the strongest interest coming from young audiences, women and BAME people.  Awareness of the Festival was highest amongst younger age groups (16-24’s at 38%), BAME people (48%) and was equally as high across all sociodemographic groups.

The London 2012 Festival engaged with a wide audience with 30% of attendees to the festival aged 35 or under, 11% of attendees form minority ethnic groups, and 12.5% attendees identifying themselves as either a disabled person or having a disabled person in their family or as having a long term health condition.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today praised London 2012 for its efforts to maintain culture as a key pillar of the Games. Indeed, 85 % of attendees saying the London 2012 Festival was a positive addition to the Games while 35% of all UK adults polled agreed that more people took part in culture due to the Games.

A final report by the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Cultural Capital, commissioned to produce a full legacy report into the London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad, will be published in Spring 2013 with further details on participation & audiences, legacy and the future life of commissions.

Tony Hall, Chair, Cultural Olympiad Board, said: ‘The scale and reach of the London 2012 Festival was unprecedented and arts institutions across the UK were able to win new audiences. As a climax to the four year Cultural Olympiad the festival delivered world class artists to our shores and ensured that wherever people lived they could be part of Olympic and Paralympic celebrations.’  

Ruth Mackenzie, Director, London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad said: ‘We asked partners and artists from round the World a to create ‘Once in a Lifetime’ new work to match up to the ‘Once in a Lifetime’ ambition and scale of the London 2012 Games, and they rose magnificently to the challenge – they showed that the UK creative and cultural sector are world leaders, and world class artists amazed us with the risks they took and the quality of the work they created.’

Dr Beatriz Garcia, Head of Research, Institute of Cultural Capital, University of Liverpool, said: ‘The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and Festival have taken unprecedented steps to promote and deliver cultural activity as a key pillar of the Games. This has resulted in a programme that has reached out to every UK nation and region, involving a scale of collaboration, commissions and audiences that matches and often exceeds that achieved for the Festival of Britain. ‘

Jacqueline Barrett, IOC Head of Bid City Relations and OCOG Liaison for Culture & Education, said: ‘London picked up the cultural baton and delivered a programme that engaged the country, brought the London Games to all parts of the UK, and was of the highest calibre. It provided something for everyone that was inspirational, exciting, excellent, moving, challenging, fun or just a joy to behold, and set a new standard.  The cultural bar has been lifted even higher and London 2012 has definitely reinforced culture’s position as part of the DNA of the Games.’

Culture Secretary Maria Miller said: ‘The London 2012 Festival was a brilliant finale to the Cultural Olympiad. A spectacular reminder to visitors from around the world of the vast cultural experiences we have to offer, it showcased the UK as one of the world’s top cultural destinations.’

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: ‘2012 has been a phenomenal year for culture in our city. Londoners and tourists alike have been treated to an astonishing variety of artists and performers throughout this extraordinary period. In bringing such an unparalleled number of experiences to every corner of the capital, the London 2012 Festival helped us create an historic summer like no other. This has strengthened London's reputation for creativity and as a great world city for culture.'

Moira Sinclair, Executive Director of Arts Council England, London, said:  ‘This summer and the years leading up to it were all about showcasing and celebrating the UK’s world class artists and cultural organisations and the contribution they make to our sense of who we are, to our vibrant communities the length and breadth of the country and to our successful tourism industry. Through sustained investment and one off project funding, we have been proud to be at the very heart of this. We look forward to building on the legacy of ambitious outdoor work, support for Deaf and disabled artists and a developing relationship with Brazil and Derry-Londonderry in the coming months.’

Moira Swinbank, Chief Executive of Legacy Trust UK said: ‘Legacy Trust UK’s funding has enabled people in communities across the UK to get involved in the excitement of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, wherever they live. As Principal Funder of the London 2012 Festival and Cultural Olympiad, we have worked closely with LOCOG and the London 2012 Festival partners to ensure that events were inclusive, engaging and showcased the wide range of artistic talent here in the UK. We are pleased that the interim report’s findings show that the Festival was a huge success and look forward to the full report in 2013.’

Rt. Hon Dame Janet Paraskeva, Chair of the Olympic Lottery Distributor said: ‘The London 2012 Festival surpassed expectations, succeeding in placing arts and culture right at the heart of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games  I am particularly glad that funding from the Olympic Lottery Distributor supported so many of the commissions which captivated audiences around the country and provided the perfect accompaniment to the excitement of the sports competitions.’

Peter Mather, Vice President, Europe & Head of Country UK, BP, said: 'As a long term supporter of art sand culture in the UK we are proud to have been a Premier Partner of the London2012 Festival, the largest ever UK-wide cultural festival. Our support was wide-ranging, and included a new partnership with the RSC focussed on delivering the acclaimed World Shakespeare Festival.  BP’s commitment helped bring high quality cultural experiences to audiences across the UK inwhat was an amazing summer of celebration.’

Suzi Williams, director, BT Group Marketing & Brand, said: ‘As a Premier Partner of the London 2012 Festival, we believed that London 2012 should be about more than sport. We’re proud to have been at the heart of projects like Road to 2012 in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, and to have brought people together the weekend before the Opening Ceremony with BT River of Music, helping to create magical memories for so many people this summer.’

The London 2012 Festival was the finale of the Cultural Olympiad. Since the Cultural Olympiad started in 2008 over 18 million people all over the UK have already participated in or attended over 9,000 performances and more than 8,000 workshops as part of Cultural Olympiad programmes inspired by London 2012 and funded by our principal funders and sponsors.   

Principal Funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival.

Supporters of the London 2012 Festival are BMW, Eurostar, Freshfields, King’s College London, Panasonic, Samsung, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales, BBC, British Council, Creative Scotland, DCAL, DCMS, Festivals Edinburgh, Mayor Of London, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Visit Britain and Visit Scotland.  

The Institute of Cultural Capital (ICC) is a strategic collaboration between  the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, involving the team who led research on the impact of hosting the Liverpool 2008 European Capital of Culture Programme. The ICC Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival evaluation builds on this framework. Findings will be available in Spring 2013.

Ends -


Notes to editors:  
For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100.

Sources for information:
•   Polling data (Nielsen State of the Nation)
•   Face to face & email surveys (Nielsen)
•   Institution/producer audience data

International invitations for London 2012 Festival commissions include:  
•   Noye’s Fludde by Northern Ireland Opera is invited to the Beijing Festival this October.
•   The co-commissioned films by Mike Leigh, Lynne Ramsay, Asif Kapadia, Max Giwa & Dania Pasquini have all been invited to this autumn’s Rio Film Festival.
•   The RSC’s A Soldier in Every Son: An Aztec Trilogy is going to Mexico this autumn and will then be taken into rep of National Theatre of Mexico.
•   Jeremy Deller’s Sacrilege toured to Paris this autumn, and plans are being finalised for it to tour internationally in 2013.
•   Douglas Gordon’s film ‘The End of Civilisation’ is being shown in New York and in Tel Aviv this autumn.
•   Blue Crystal Ball is going to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
•   The Festival commissioned the world premiere of Mittwoch aus Licht, and a recording of Michaelion was made by Birmingham Opera for the first time in history. It will be available internationally from the end of this year – thus completing availability of all of Stockhausen’s works on CD.
•   The children of Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise orchestra have been invited to Venezuela by Maestro José Antonio Abreu.
•   Olafur Eliasson’s Little Sun was invited to the Venice Architecture Biennale this summer.
•   MACROPOLIS is going to Cinanima in Portugal, one of the leading animation festivals in Southern Europe.
•   The Lapa Londres Rio bands, Sargento Pimineta and Monobloco, performed together after returning from London in Rio in Monoblocco’s 6000 capacity venue to sell-out audience. They have now invited the London band, Rhythms of the City, to work with them in Rio in December 2012.
•   Several of the London artists involved in Rio Occupations will be part of the British council Transform programme Lapa Londres festival in April 2013 in Rio, performing with Rio artists from Rio Occupations.
•   aMAZEme artists have been invited to Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris with a new piece on the back of success of the piece in the London 2012 Festival.
•   There is international interest in a number of the Unlimited commissions and artists

Permanent artworks include:
•   Rachel Whiteread Frieze for Whitechapel Gallery
•   Short films by Mike Leigh, Lyne Ramsey, Asif Kapadia & Max & Dania
•   Olympic and Paralympic Posters for London 2012 by  Fiona Banner, Michael Craig-Martin, Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Anthea Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Gary Hume, Sarah Morris, Chris Ofili, Bridget Riley, Bob and Roberta Smith and Rachel Whiteread
•   Damon Albarn’s Dr Dee
•   The Crash of the Elysium – Punchdrunk
•   Creating the Spectacle - Sue Austin
•   Ménage à Trois Claire - Cunningham
•   Desdemona – Toni Morrison, Rokia Traore
•   New orchestral scores for Hitchcock silent films by composers including Nitin Sawhney, Tansy Davies and Daniel Cohen
•   Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 – Wayne Macgregor
•   Draw Down the Walls -  Oscar Muñoz
•   Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion
•   De Coubertin Lecture – Eddie Izzard

Budget
•   Total budget for the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival projects and events totals £118m.
•   This is split £63m for the London 2012 Festival and £55m for the four year Cultural Olympiad.
•   Principle funders are the Olympic Lottery Distributor using National Lottery Funds, Legacy Trust UK, Arts Council England and private sponsors BP and BT. Further funding was made available from LOCOG, the DCMS, GLA and co-funding secured by commissions.


London 2012 Paralympic Games partners:
The Worldwide Paralympic Partners who support the London 2012 Paralympic Games and the National Paralympic Committees around the world are Atos, Samsung and Visa.

LOCOG has sixteen domestic Tier One Partners - Acer, adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, Coca-Cola, Dow, EDF, GE,  Lloyds TSB, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic and Procter and Gamble and Sainsbury’s. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are twenty-nine domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, NATURE VALLEY, Next, Nielsen, Otto Bock, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster, Trebor and Westfield.

The London 2012 Paralympic Games also acknowledges the support of the National Lottery.