The 2009 Festival opened in May with the Barbican Jazz and Blues Festival and has already seen events including the Plymouth Half Marathon, live opera on the Big Screen, Honda powerboats and the arrival of Plymouth’s very own centre court in Armada Way for Wimbledon fortnight coverage.
The next three months feature some of the biggest events in the 2009 calendar, kicked off by superstar rock n’ roller Rod Stewart headlining at Home Park on Thursday July 2.
David Draffan, Managing Director of Plymouth City Centre Company, said: “It’s been a fantastic start to this years Plymouth Summer Festival and with good summer weather forecast and the school holidays approaching we are now ready to move up a gear with some of the biggest events in what is a summer programme to rival any in the UK.
“With so many events coming together under the Plymouth Summer Festival banner it means we have a very powerful message that Plymouth is a must visit destination for people who either live in the region or are visiting here. We’ve got something for all the family, with many of the events free, so come and enjoy a day out in Plymouth and the huge variety of entertainment on offer.”
The Festival’s Golden Week (August 11-17) captures the spirit of the entire Plymouth Summer Festival, with massive free public entertainment on the Hoe with the British Fireworks Championships on 11- 12 August, race action on the water with the finish of the Rolex Fastnet Race on 11- 12 August, top theatre entertainment with Chicago at the Theatre Royal from 10 August and great food as the City Centre welcomes back the hugely popular Plymouth Flavour Fest from 14 – 16 August.
Other Festival highlights between now and the end of September include the Classic Boat Rally on 2 - 4 August, Navy Days on 5 – 6 September and the hit musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Theatre Royal from 20 July to name just a few.
There’s also Big Screen entertainment including Mamma Mia, Last Night of the Proms and fantastic new productions of two classic operas (La Traviata and The Barber of Seville) live from The Royal Opera House.
The Festival www.plymouthsummerfestival.com launched in 2007 has already proved a huge success in bringing together the wide range of events in Plymouth under a single banner enabling the city’s summer offer to be marketed both regionally and nationally.
In the second part of a major marketing and PR campaign for 2009, a total of 300,000 leaflets are to be circulated in tourist destinations and within tourist information racks throughout Devon and Cornwall highlighting the second half of the programme.
This is in addition to 300,000 leaflets sent out earlier this year as well as 30,000 high quality brochures placed in hotels, B&Bs and guest houses around the region, a now well-established website and fully integrated links with the Synchrocity events database.
The Plymouth Summer Festival initiative was developed by Plymouth City Centre Company, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce and the City Council, with sponsorship from Plymouth City Development Company financial support and help in kind from across the business community.
See www.plymouthsummerfestival.com
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