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Boris Johnson's much heralded cultural festival was derided today after it emerged that hardly anyone entered a competition to win tickets.
The Story of London was a series of 520 events held throughout last month intended to celebrate the capital past, present and future. But opponents today claimed it was "all spin and no substance" after learning that only 16 people joined an online ticket contest and only 71 people made text message enquiries about the events.
Despite the Mayor and his cultural adviser Munira Mirza's assurances that the festival would be "truly pan London", with "events and activities in every borough", three boroughs failed to put on any events at all. The figures were revealed in a response to a question from Lib-Dem Assembly member Dee Doocey.
Ms Doocey said: "The Story of London was a great idea, but as with so many initiatives trailed by Boris Johnson it was not properly planned.
"The Mayor promised a month long programme in each and every London borough, but many of the events that did take place were not properly publicised, and some boroughs did not put on events at all. Like so much that comes from the Mayor's office it was all spin and no substance."
Mr Johnson said market research to evaluate the Story of London "is being gathered, tabulated and analysed".
Reader views (5)
There's always something hollow about top-down arrangement of cultural events: witness the spurious Cultural Olympics, an attempt to pretend that anyone cares about the Games by conscripting other activities in its name(with no budget).
Governments and Councils can do most for culture in its real sense, which is people's spontaneous expression of
belief,skill or opinion, by simply standing back and doing as little as possible to impede these, eg. by simply ensuring that there are safe, affordable spaces available for communal events, and leaving more money in our pockets to spend on what WE want!
- Mdj E10, london uk, 29/07/2009 12:22
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Scrimping is very rarely cost effective.
- Prj45, London, 28/07/2009 21:30
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The Mayor's original Story Of London press release in February trumpeted "dozens of events and activities in every borough throughout June" - the answer given to Dee Doocey at Mayor's Question Time this month stated that the Mayor's office had "hoped" that every borough would participate when this announcement was made. However, Munira Mirza clearly stated on the BBC Politics Show in June, in the middle of the "festival", that there *were* events in every borough, so she was either lying or had no idea what her own office were doing. The publicity was ineffectual and inadequate and the website virtually impossible to navigate. £165,000 wasted on this "festival" - well done, Boris.
- Helen, West London, 28/07/2009 21:22
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Neither the Story of London nor the Rhythm of London captured the imagination of Londoners in the same way as Rise Festival which they were introduced to replace.
At a time of recession, we expect our Mayor to be spending money wisely. These initatives are evidence he is not doing so, and they certainly did not bring the same level of cultural involvement that Europe's largest anti-racism festival delivered year-on-year. It's time for Boris to admit that he was wrong to cancel Rise.
- Mike Barnard, London, 28/07/2009 11:45
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To think that the Rise Festival, which attracted more than 100,000 Londoners was cancelled! Why cancel something that is successful and replace it something that is of little or no interest to Londoners?
This once again proves that the Mayor and his "cultural adviser" are out of touch and full of sound bites that have no tangible meaning, except of course in Boris Johnson's press office.
- Common Sense, London, 28/07/2009 11:29
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