A new festival that aims to celebrate the creative, digital and entrepreneurial talent that is blossoming in East London is soon to mark its second anniversary – and the event has very big plans for growth.
Digital Shoreditch launched last year with 2,000 people in attendance and 200 companies, media partners and government agencies offering their support. These include the government-backed Tech City and last.fm, a poster child of Silicon Roundabout.
This year’s event, which runs from May 21 to June 1, hopes to attract 50,000 visitors, with 200 events and 500 companies participating. Events will include talks, educational workshops, open studios, exhibitions, family days and parties, with the events mainly taking place around Shoreditch, Clerkenwell and Brick Lane.
"The aim is to facilitate an enormous spectrum of individuals and companies to connect and exchange ideas, generate a greater openness within digital space, and facilitate innovators from all walks of life to contribute to a flourishing creative society," the festival’s website says.
It does of course sound very similar to the famous South by Southwest (SXSW) that is kicking off in Austin, Texas. That festival is an annual celebration of music, film and technology.
It was at SXSW back in 2007 that Twitter exploded onto the world scene. Previously little-known, the site gained a huge amount of buzz at the show after it placed two 60-inch plasma screens in central positions at the festival, broadcasting a non-stop stream of Twitter messages. It is thought that traffic rose from about 20,000 Tweets a day to 60,000 during the event.
Kam Star, founder of Digital Shoreditch is jetting off to Austin to visit SXSW, hoping to pick up hints and tips about putting on a successful festival.
This came about due to a friendship agreement signed between City of Austin and Borough of Hackney, signed to reflect the creative industries that have taken root in both areas. Star subsequently received an invite to visit the festival from Lee Leffingwell, mayor of Austin.
But as well as hints and tips about the festival, Star is also looking at ways of getting Digital Shoreditch up to the same level.
"Within four years, we want to be as significant as SXSW and be recognised as one of the world’s premier events for showcasing the most talented companies and individuals within the digital and creative technologies sectors," he said.
"Our ambition for 2012 is to deliver London’s greatest digital and creative tech festival ever. There is an immense amount we can learn from the team behind SXSW, and I look forward to working with them as we gear up for Digital Shoreditch," he added.
"Austin has a thriving community of tech, digital and creative businesses, and events such as SXSW have helped solidify its place among the most innovative clusters in the world. The developing connection between SXSW and Digital Shoreditch will encourage bold thinking and collaborations from entrepreneurs and companies on both sides of the Atlantic, and shines a light on the dynamism and innovation that make both cities ideal places to start and grow a business," said Eric Van der Kleij, CEO of London’s Tech City Investment Organisation.
