The Liverpool Biennial art festival is forecast to bring around £21 million into the local economy this year.
The event, which has been running since 1998 and generated nearly £120 million for the Liverpool economy in the last decade, has seen over 260 new artworks exhibited with some 400 artists worldwide coming to the city.
North West Research have forecast that half of the £21 million this year’s festival will generate will come from visitors to the city with money spent on accommodation and dining out during the 14-week event.
The free festival of contemporary art returns to the city between 9 July and 16 October this year and is the first time children will work together with artists and the Biennial team to develop ambitious exhibitions, projects and publications specifically for young audiences.
It is organised as a story narrated in several episodes throughout the landscape of the city, based in galleries, museums, pubs, unused spaces, stations, hotels, parking lots, shops and supermarkets.
Sally Tallant, the Liverpool Biennial director, told JMU Journalism: “We are delighted to announce this wide-ranging group of artists from the UK and around the world who are participating in the 2016 Biennial. We are looking forward to working with artists from Asia, India, North and South America, the Middle East, Russia and Europe in the city.
“It is exciting to bring these artists together with the people of Liverpool to make this a place where art and artists can thrive and to create a focus for international contemporary art. The importance of culture in the city is well documented, but I think sometimes culture’s economic impact on the city and its businesses can be forgotten about.”
The last festival attracted 875,000 visits and is expected to be popular again this year when more than 40 international artists create work in the city.