Countries and cities host major events to boost place marketing, strengthen place branding, and spark community pride. Right now, huge investments are flowing into global sporting events, capturing the attention of billions who not only enjoy the games but also connect with the host cities’ stories.
From the recent Africa Cup of Nations to the current Winter Olympics, and soon the 2026 FIFA World Cup, these events draw huge attention and investment, spotlighting cities on the world stage.
These events shine a global spotlight on “world cities,” but equally powerful, lasting impacts are happening quietly at a more local level.
In the UK, towns and cities are gearing up for a busy events season, with many embracing City and Town of Culture opportunities. While budgets are often modest, the impact on place branding, marketing, and especially community pride can be just as powerful as major global events.
Over the past 15 years, a number of festivals instigated by HemingwayDesign have shown how events can truly capture and celebrate a place’s DNA.
The National Festival of Making, Blackburn
In Blackburn, almost 20% of the population still works in making, production, and manufacturing—twice the national average. Born out of the project Blackburn Is Open, The National Festival of Making shines a spotlight on the rich history of making in the North West of England. It explores and celebrates the present-day diversity, scale, range, and skills of UK-based making and creating, aiming to inspire and excite future generations of makers and creators.
The festival generates around £1 million annually and attracts 30,000–40,000 visitors—around half from outside Blackburn—who come to enjoy music, markets, art, tours, talks, and, most importantly, an eclectic mix of making experiences. Over 100 free or low-cost workshops and performances take place across town-centre venues.
Beyond the main weekend, the festival runs year-round activities including school programmes and community-led installations.
Through the Art in Manufacturing programme, artists collaborate with local manufacturers, large and small—such as Herbert Parkinson and Darwen Terracotta—creating work that uses industrial skills and materials.
For a relatively deprived town, the festival offers something tangible to celebrate, especially an industry with a deeply diverse workforce. Blackburn’s population is approximately 60% White British and 36% Asian or Asian British, with many manufacturing businesses Asian-owned, reflecting migration from the 1950s and 60s. Today, Blackburn is a major employment centre in the North West, with over 4,000 businesses and growth exceeding regional and national averages.
The National Festival of Making clearly shows how a festival can become a powerful promoter of a place’s DNA. This Years’ National Festival of Making takes place 4th & 5th July.
First Light Festival, Lowestoft
First Light Festival is a truly unique, multi-arts beach and beachfront event that, as the sun rises, celebrates the UK’s ‘First Light’ of the day on the seafront of Britain’s most easterly town, Lowestoft.
The festival emerged from our work with East Suffolk Council on the Vision for Lowestoft South Beach. It offers free access to a packed programme of music, dance, storytelling, art, science, workshops, wellbeing sessions, and family adventures. And shines a ‘first light’ on local creative talent.
Attracting over 40,000 visitors annually, it generates around £1.2 million in visitor spend and supports approximately 90 local traders during the weekend. More than 90% of attendees say it strengthens their sense of community and pride.
Young people are central to the festival, with the New Dawn stage showcasing talent aged 14–25, alongside engagement with all 22 local schools through workshops and opening parades. Environmental awareness is woven throughout, with the Planet Positive zone, solar power usage, and “leave no trace” tourism principles.
As an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, the festival secures Lowestoft’s place as a nationally significant cultural hub, with venues— East Point Pavilion and Battery of Ideas— hosting music, visual arts, performances, wellbeing and community activity year-round.
2026 First Light Festival takes place on 20–21 June.
Festival of Thrift, Teesside
The Festival of Thrift is the UK’s national celebration of sustainable living.
Embedded in the Tees Valley, the festival builds pride in place by celebrating industrial heritage while reimagining the region as a leader in the green economy. It aligns with ambitions such as low-carbon manufacturing and the Teesside Freeport. Crucially, it supports communities navigating the cost-of-living crisis through a practical “shift to thrift”.
The festival contributes around £2 million annually to the local economy, attracting 35,000–50,000 visitors, with up to one-fifth travelling from outside the region. Hundreds of workshops teach skills in upcycling, mending, and resourcefulness, empowering families to live well on a budget.
With a strong volunteer base and year-round projects, the festival creates shared memories and a sense of belonging across generations. By moving between locations such as Redcar and Billingham, it also supports wider regeneration and placemaking ambitions.
This year the festival returns to Kirkleatham, Redcar, on 4-5thJuly as part of a new multi-year partnership.
We Invented the Weekend, Salford
We Invented the Weekend is a bold and imaginative free festival for the North, celebrating all the ways we fill our free time in the very place the weekend was invented!
Back in 2019, while working on the place brand for MediaCity, during a workshop with local workers and residents, someone told us, “I was watching Who Do You Think You Are on the telly, and the weekend was invented here.” What a claim! We did some research and discovered it was true—a Salford-based workers’ rights activist named Robert Lowes (who also happens to be Sir Ian McKellen’s great-great-grandfather) led a campaign to allow workers to finish early on Saturdays, giving everyone more free time. And with that, the weekend was born. This felt like a story worth telling!
In its first year alone, supported by a fantastic line-up of partners including the BBC, The Lowry, the University of Salford, Eat Well MCR, HOST, Ipsos, The Open University, the Royal Horticultural Society, Salford Community Leisure, Salford City Council, Salford CVS, Sounds From the Other City, the Science and Industry Museum, Unity Radio, and the University of Manchester, the festival generated over £3.2 million for the local economy. In 2024, it welcomed more than 96,000 visitors—one of MediaCity’s highest-footfall events ever. Around 40% of attendees visit local hospitality and retail businesses, while over 200 free activities are co-created with local community and cultural organisations.
The next edition takes place on 6–7 June 2026.
Urban Village Fete, Greenwich Peninsula
In 2014, HemingwayDesign was invited to create a signature placemaking concept for the emerging Greenwich Peninsula regeneration in London. The area planned to deliver over 15,000 new homes, 10,000 jobs, and nearly 50 acres of public space. The goal was for Greenwich Peninsula to be known for its liveability and creativity, envisioned as an “urban village” distinct from the fast-paced Canary Wharf and just 15 minutes by tube from central London.
With this vision, the Urban Village Fete was born—a contemporary take on the traditional summer fete. Designed for new residents and visitors alike, it celebrates design, music, art, while building a sense of community.
In May 2025, the fete marked its 10th anniversary with 30,000 attendees. The event reimagined the fete spirit through workshops, performances, and activities from rosette-making from waste textiles, wonky veg sculptures, to a loose-part playground made from hay, and the Alllympics games. Gilles Peterson closed the celebrations, returning to the decks as he did at the inaugural event.
Although Urban Village Fete isn’t funded this year, for a decade it has been Greenwich Peninsula’s signature celebration, helping pave the way for the Design District, London’s first permanent creative workspace, opened in 2021, and now home to many businesses that started at Urban Village Fete and its sister event: SAMPLE.
Emerge East, Barking Riverside
Emerge East is Barking Riverside’s annual free festival celebrating community, creativity, and nature. Created to showcase local talent—from emerging artists and makers to home cooks, musicians, and performers—the festival reflects Barking Riverside’s ambition to become one of Europe’s largest new neighbourhoods and London’s only ‘Healthy New Town’.
From the start, Emerge East has been a collaborative effort. HemingwayDesign works closely with residents, cultural groups, and local organisations to co-create a festival that embodies the spirit of the place and its people. Each year, it provides a platform for local talent, encourages participation, and fosters a shared sense of ownership as the area grows.
In September 2025, Emerge East returned for its fourth year, bigger than ever. Favourite features like the Riverside Sauna & Wellness Zone, Emerging Makers Market, and The Home Cooks: Taste of Barking Riverside—where residents share recipes and food—were joined by a new highlight: the Barking Riverside Block Party. Curated by One Room Live, Barking & Dagenham’s music and arts collective, the Block Party featured community performances, local DJs, and headline acts.
Now a key annual event, Emerge East continues to grow with Barking Riverside—a vibrant celebration of creativity and identity, shaped with and for the community.
Centre Stage, Richmond
HemingwayDesign have been working with the London Borough of Richmond on a Vision and Activation Plan for Richmond town centre, setting a clear direction and identity to ensure decisions today support a vibrant, engaging, and welcoming Richmond for the future.
Centre Stage Richmond is one of the first steps in bringing this plan to life, transforming George Street and Whittaker Square by closing them to traffic and turning the spaces into a stage, canvas, and playground for creativity, community, and culture.
The programme fills the town centre with live music, theatre, performance, art, workshops, and markets. It celebrates Richmond’s rich—and often untold—musical heritage, inspired by Gilles Peterson’s legendary Belvedere Arms parties. While a Youth Music Showcase, curated by BandIt (Richmond Music Trust) and Basement Door, gives emerging local talent a platform.
Richmond’s streets became a stage for theatre, performance, and skate culture. The Orange Tree Theatre presented a promenade-style Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland across George Street, while Kinetika Bloco and Combination Dance led processions and interactive workshops inviting public participation. Drift Tricks’ skateable sculptures encouraged play and performance throughout the day, supported by a wide range of drop-in creative workshops for all ages.
By pedestrianising George Street for the inaugural event in 2025, Centre Stage increased footfall to local businesses and invited residents to help shape the future use of their town centre. For the Council, it serves as a “test and learn” pilot, informing future public realm, transport, and movement decisions.
Centre stage returns July 18th 2026.
While the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics capture global attention for a few weeks, these local festivals do the quieter, essential work of building lasting brand recognition and creating opportunities for communities to take pride in where they live and work. They show that festivals and events can be the ultimate expression of a place’s DNA and give places a distinctive identity to stand behind.
As we look ahead to the 2026 season, they serve as a powerful reminder that positive reputation, community cohesion, and pride in place remain the most valuable assets a town or place can have.