The Tampere Region Festivals have had special focus on building a network since the Tampere Region Festivals – Strength Through Networks project, which ran from 2009 to 2012. The main objective of the Strength Through Networks project was to create a network of cultural festivals in Tampere Region, which gave rise to the Tampere Region Festivals association, still in operation today. Launched in 2009, 27 festivals first joined the project, and since then the network has grown to 37 festivals.
The network provided festival operators with peer support, a working community and a professional reference framework. It also significantly increased the festivals’ bargaining power with respect to other actors and decision-makers. Significant evidence of the importance of festivals in the region was gathered through visitor surveys and economic research, among others. The project gathered the know-how of festival professionals in a festival knowledge base and crafted an environmental plan for each festival. The high-quality cultural festivals organised in Tampere Region attracted positive attention and interest during the project, both in the region and elsewhere in Finland.
The project was funded by the Council of Tampere Region (with the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF) and the Creative Tampere programme. The project was also funded by the municipalities where festivals are also held and which are located outside the Tampere urban region (Ikaalinen, Sastamala, Urjala, Valkeakoski, Orivesi and Mänttä-Vilppula). In addition, funding was provided by each of the 27 cultural festivals involved in the project.
