Platform 4 Piccadilly was a three day festival of outdoor arts and entertainment taking place in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester. It was
organized by XTRAX, and built on the first Platform 4 event that took place in Manchester in August 2007
The programme included evening performances on Friday 18th September and two afternoons of performances on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September. The programme featured some of the best UK and international outdoor performance companies including;
• Night time performances on Friday evening from Akademi and a nighttime finale from Avanti Display and with the Spurting Man
• Parkour performance with contemporary dance from Prodigal and Gravity Style
• Stunning acrobatics from Pret A Porter
• Classic silent movie style street theatre from Bash Street
• Interactive theatre for children from Plunge Boom in the Trolls Kitchen
• An impressive selection of dance from Marc Brew Company, Stop Gap, Akademi, Prodigal and Kompany Malakhi
Key achievements
• The festival presented 27 companies who performed 74 shows over 3 days
• Over 16,000 people attended Platform 4 Piccadilly performances.
• The festival generated press coverage from local, regional and national press and media, including several detailed references to Piccadilly Partnership
• The value of the press and media coverage is estimated in excess of £30,000
• Platform 4 Piccadilly was promoted in over 150,000 pieces of print (Platform 4 brochure, Manchester City Council Brochure, A3 posters,
decaux posters, programmes, adverts in decibel book)
• The profile was enhanced through prominent street branding including 46 JC DECAUX posters at sites throughout the city centre and two
specially created animations were produced for the screens on Piccadilly Gardens and Piccadilly Approach
• The Festival generated additional profile after the event when it was nominated for a Manchester Evening News Theatre Award, 2009 for
Best Special Entertainment, a signal of the quality of the event and the high profile it achieved in the City.
• XTRAX negotiated additional investment for the festival from the decibel showcase (Supported by Arts Council England), Without Walls
(consortium of outdoor festivals) as well as Piccadilly Partnership.
• Piccadilly Partnership members promoted special offers at the festival including Kro, Go Italy, Rice, Caffé Latino and Grado.
• Piccadilly hotels were promoted as part of decibel showcase and attracted bookings of approximately 180 bed nights to Piccadilly Hotels.
Further drinking and dining benefits added to the value of these bookings