Nov 17 - Impressive Rise in Literary Festival Attendees Brands it a Success
This past weekend’s Literary Festival boasted a substantial increase in attendees to last year’s inaugural event. The three-day programme covered an impressive spectrum of topics discussed a glowing gamut of authors, historians, philosophers, journalists and speakers.
Attendance grew by 79%, from 1999 in 2013 to 3569 this year. Online ticket sales also registered an increase from 1034 in 2013, to 1475 in 2014, an increase of 43%. Tickets sold in Gibraltar experienced a 125% increase from 357 in 2013 to 805 in 2014.
Tourism Minister Neil Costa expressed praise and gratitude to the sponsors of the festival, as well as members of staff that worked to make the festival possible. Commenting on the three-day feast of literature, Minister Costa insisted that it had been an absolute pleasure to witness how the Gibraltarian public has responded ‘with enormous interest to the impressive array of authors and celebrities that formed part of our programme at this second edition of the Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival.’
He added, ‘It is a testament to the success of our efforts over the past year to meet the challenge of equalling what was accomplished last year, that not only do I think that we have we done that, but have actually surpassed what was achieved in our inaugural edition. The growth and consolidation of the festival has now become a wonderful reality.’
The festival expanded its reach to local schools with talks being hosted for students of a variation of ages. The eclectic nature of the festival was underlined by events that celebrated the gastronomy of Italy and India, sherry wine tasting events, art appreciation, jazz music and poetry. There was also room for conferences about Spanish football, rock’n’roll, Sephardic music and a debate on the topical issue of Cataluña with representatives from both sides of the divide on the independence question.
