Music tourism brings bars of gold to Fylde coast

The report has revealed that music tourism attracted 1.2 million music tourists to the region in 2015 with Blackpool, Manchester and Liverpool leading the charge.

Visitors attending a live concert or music festival generated £375m in total for the local economy, and helped sustain 4,323 full-time jobs across the North West according to the report Wish You Were Here 2016 from UK Music.

VisitEngland estimates that every person attending a concert injects an additional £45 into the local economy.

And Fylde music and event promoters Cuffe and Taylor said their events alone this year would will boost the region’s economy by almost £8m.

They said they were hosting 22 nights of live music across the region this year with a mix of headline concerts and festivals.

Cuffe and Taylor director Peter Taylor said: “We have an eclectic mix of events arranged across the North West which will not only provide audiences with a fantastic night of world-class entertainment, but will also see a boost into each town’s economy.”

They include the week-long Lytham Festival with headline concerts from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Bryan Adams, Cheshire’s three-day Betley and Tatton Park Concerts by the Lake, Lancashire’s three-day Symphony at the Tower, two days at Cartmel Racecourse and one-off nights at Lytham’s Lowther Pavilion and Blackpool’s Winter Gardens.

Other big events in Blackpool include the Rebellion punk festival, the Coast Town Weekender, Blackpool Rocks and Back to the Old Pool.

Jo Dipple, UK Music chief executive said: “The appetite for live music has continued to grow. Last year overseas music tourism increased by 16 per cent, while British music events were attended by 27.7 million people in 2015.”