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Scottish Parliament's Festival of Politics nominated for Channel 4 Political Award
2 February, 2007
Festival of Politics news
 Armando Iannucci with Peter MacMahon of the Scotsman at the 2006 event |
The Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics has been nominated for a Channel 4 Political Award in recognition of its success in engaging with the public and introducing politics to new audiences.
Held at Holyrood between 23 and 26 of August 2006, the Festival has been shortlisted for the Political Innovation award presented annually as part of the Channel 4 Political Awards. Nominations for the award, offered in conjunction with the Hansard Society, are chosen by an independent panel for work which finds new ways of engaging people with politics.
Presiding Officer, George Reid MSP, said:
“This nomination is welcome recognition of the innovation shown by the Scottish Parliament in finding new ways to engage people with politics.
“The Festival of Politics has been a hugely successful addition to Edinburgh ’s festival season and has been greeted with overwhelmingly positive response.
“By inviting the public into the Scottish Parliament’s stunning building, the Festival of Politics set out to dispel the notion of politics as being dusty and beyond people’s reach.
“In two short years we have been successful in bringing together the worlds of politics, media, business and the arts to succeed in creating an environment where politics truly meets the people.
“We are proud to have progressed this ground-breaking initiative in co-operation with organisations and individuals that share our goal of political engagement. The support of the Festival Partners – Standard Life, BAA Scotland and ScottishPower – and the goodwill of MSPs and the Parliaments’ staff has proved key to the Festival’s success.”
Introduced to critical acclaim in 2005, the inaugural event proved so popular that the second festival, in 2006, was extended from three to four days with more than double the number of events. In 2006 more than 3,200 people attended 45 ticketed events over the four days with demand for many events greater than availability.
Guest speakers included satirist Armando Iannucci, parliamentarians Sir Menzies Campbell and Tam Dalyell, along with award winning Hollywood actress, Dr Tommie Stewart and Rachel Elnaugh, star of the BBC’s business talent show Dragons’ Den.
In conjunction with the Festival of Politics, the Scottish Parliament was also host to the World Press Photo exhibition. The exhibition, on display in Scotland for the first time in its 26 year history, is recognised as one of the world’s largest and most prestigious photojournalism exhibitions.
The thought provoking images from around the world included photographs taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina which led to the flooding of New Orleans.
The World Press Photo Exhibition was displayed in the Main Public Hall from 21 August to 7 September during which more than 27,500 visits to the Parliament were recorded. Like the majority of Festival of Politics events, entry to the photographic exhibition was free.
The dedicated Festival of Politics website received in excess of 200,000 hits and attracted visitors from over 60 countries outside the UK.
Background notes
Photographs from the Festival of Politics are available from the Scottish Parliament at the address below. Images will be distributed to picture desks this afternoon.
The Festival of Politics
Holyrood's Festival of Politics was introduced to Edinburgh ’s festival season in 2005 and received an Editors' Top Ten Award from Threeweeks – the Edinburgh festivals review publication.
While most events were free, there was a charge of £5.00 (£3.00 concession) for a small number of events.
To ensure Festival of Politics events were as accessible as possible, visitors were asked to specify requirements when booking tickets. British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation was provided automatically at some events, it could be requested for any of the others. Assistance dogs were welcome and all venues were accessible for wheelchair users.
Visitors to the Festival were able to use the free Parliament Crèche.
Programme details from the Festival of Politics 2005 and 2006, including archive news releases, photographs and video footage, are available from www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk.
The Channel 4 Political Awards
The ninth annual Channel 4 Political Awards, organised in association with the Hansard Society, will be held in the company’s headquarters in London on Wednesday 7 February 2007 and will be broadcast on Saturday 10 February 2007.
The Festival of Politics is one of three nominations for the Political Innovation Award. The others are Operation Black Vote (for their MP mentoring scheme) and WebCameron. Last year the award for Political Innovation was presented to BBC’s This Week programme.
A full list of 2007 nominees is available from the Channel 4 website at: http://www.channel4.com/news/microsites/P/politicalawards/index.html
The Hansard Society
The Hansard Society is an independent, non-partisan educational charity, which promotes effective parliamentary democracy.
Their work is based on the core belief that an effective parliamentary system is central to a successful democracy. It has, as a principle, the belief that civic society is most effective when its citizens are connected with the institutions and individuals who represent them in the democratic process.
The society’s work includes educating people of all ages about parliamentary democracy, identifying practical options to stimulate debate, and encouraging engagement and participation in the democratic process.
For further information contact: [email protected]
Telephone: 0131 348 6852.
For public information/general enquiries:
Telephone 0131 348 500 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
E-mail: [email protected]
More Festival of Politics news
The Festival of Politics is an initiative of the Scottish Parliament.
The Festival of Politics 2006 Partners are:
Standard Life; BAA Scotland; and ScottishPower.
