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What the Big Weekend meant to Bangor


Jono

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TOURISM chiefs are totting up the benefits of staging one of the biggest free music festivals in Europe.

The cleanup after Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Bangor has begun but business leaders across North Wales are already thinking of ways of capitalising on the intense media coverage the area has received over the past month.

Over the two days, 40,000 Big Weekenders enjoyed the sunshine and performances from the likes of Rhianna, Pendulum and Florence and the Machine at the Faenol Estate on the banks of the Menai Straits.

Radio 1 DJ’s have already devoted priceless amounts of airtime speaking about the area with some saying they would even like to holiday in North Wales in the future.

Hotels and campsites within the immediate vicinity of the Faenol site were booked solid several weeks ago whilst local taxi and bus firms also reaped the benefits of the event.

Gwynedd Council say that they will now “take a step back” to assess the financial knock-on effect of the Big Weekend and have pledged to develop a strategy to keep tourists coming back to the area.

Gwynedd Council Leader, councillor Dyfed Edwards said: “The Big Weekend has been a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase what makes Gwynedd a great place to live, work and visit.

“The event has created a huge amount of interest in the area.

“The marketing value of hosting the event has been immense.

“Radio 1 have been plugging the event and indeed the area for weeks, which is something other companies would have to pay millions for, and having Alicia Keys singing North Wales on stage – well, you just can’t put a price on publicity like that.

“There is no doubt whatsoever that the priceless coverage our area has enjoyed over recent weeks as a result of this event will provide a real long-term boost for the economy for the future.”

Radio 1 Head of Live Music Jason Carter said: “The general feeling amongst the staff, presenters and the feedback we have received is that this has been the best Big Weekend we’ve ever had.

“The feedback that we have had from the artists has been fantastic, they seemed to really love the site and the glorious backdrop added to the lovely character of the event.

“We are extremely confident that more large scale events like this will be hosted in the site in the future, which is part of the lasting legacy which we intended to leave on the area.

“We have had a lot of interest from some big, big music promoters about the site, some of which were there over the weekend, they were just blown away by it.

“It was a really good opportunity to promote North Wales and the Welsh language and we feel we did that in a big way.”

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/in-depth/radio-1-big-weekend/2010/05/25/what-radio-1-s-big-weekend-will-mean-to-north-wales-55578-26512720/

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