AIB World Street Performance Championships 2010

The AIB World Street Performance Championships come to Dublin this month!

Thanks to former Dublin City Enterprise Board award winners, Dublin's Merrion Square will be alive with fun and colour once again as the  annual AIB World Street Performance Championships take place from the 17th - 20th June. The brainchild of two Dublin City Enterprise Board clients, Mark Duckenfield and Conor McCarthy of Emergent Events, this festival sees street performers from all over the world descend on our capital city.

Both Conor and Mark are IT graduates from Trinity College  and neither has any background in performing arts. So how did the AIB Street Performance World Championship come about? Observation, money and focus!Trinity College and Temple Bar are in close proximity and it was when visiting the latter that Mark and Conor began to take a close look at the buskers that throng the city’s ‘cultural quarter’.

Close observation led them to realise a number of key points. “We watched the street  performers closely and were surprised at the considerable amount of money they were making,” says Mark. “Far from being resented by the public, they were seen as an addition to the area.” “We also saw that there was no organisation or structure in evidence,” says Conor. “If we could provide those elements, perhaps we could make ourselves some money.”

The business plan also provided some very sound reasons why a street performers festival could make  money. Mark explains: “A festival can attract a lot of people and, given the right conditions we  projected that it would be possible to attract up to 250,000 people in Dublin. A street performers  festival is relatively inexpensive to put on. The space is free, there is no charge for the venue. The  performers are paid by the audience who are admitted free to all the events with the exception of the  finale when the World Crown is bestowed on comes out on top of the other 13 finalists.

So how do you  make money? “Sponsorship,” answers Conor. “And it was very difficult as were initially seen as two  young guys who did not know what they were doing.” But, they stuck at it eventually signing AIB Bank as  the main sponsor with serious support from Dublin City Council, Failte Ireland, FM 104 and Metro. They  also received a grant from the Arts Council that enabled them to carry out research and book acts at  other performing arts festivals in the world.

In an act of pure audacity, the Dublin promoters promoted their festival as the World Championships for street performers. “The ‘World’ title proved a huge reason for our success. It was accepted by everyone and really appealed to the performers,” says Mark. The first festival was held in 2006, attracted a satisfactory attendance of 26,000 and the word spread among performers that Dublin was the most profitable location in the world. Since then, the festival has grown from strength to strength.
Conor and Mark received mentoring and grant aid from Dublin City Enterprise Board, which they  acknowledge as being an important factor in reaching their business goals.  

This year’s festival has something for everyone, with a Playday Forest, Garden of Light, Claypeople and of course food stalls.  It promises to be a great day out for all the family and for more information, please visit www.spwc.ie

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