16. Building and nurturing 'place' culture, with Philip Walker, Gloucester City Council

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In today's episode, I chat with the man in charge of culture for the city of Gloucester, Philip Walker, Head of Cultural Services, Gloucester City Council.
Where would we be without culture?

Culture is vitally important, it provides the vitality, sense of belonging and opportunity for us to come together and connect with things that light up our hearts.

For tourists, culture is the distinction which sets a place apart from another and forms ‘the experience’. Imagine a Britain without our pubs, theatres, football, rugby, music, and beautiful historic buildings.

Imagine being responsible for culture within a whole city!?

My guest in today’s podcast, Phil Walker, has the responsibility of overseeing the culture of the city of Gloucester. His role is to ensure it thrives and is distinctive enough to drive inbound tourism – a big remit.

Phil began his career in the visitor economy in Bristol, during that time he worked in several venues across the city including Arnolfini, Watershed and Bristol Museums. It’s not often I get to speak to someone who was involved in a massive Banksy exhibition. Do you remember the Banksy take over at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery? It was epic! Phil shares how he received that call from Banksy’s ‘people’ one day and how he almost lost his job!

He's taken his amazing experience with him to Gloucester, a smaller and diverse city with similar heritage to Bristol, as a trading post based on a river.

Phil and I talk about the plans for Gloucester and the importance of big events in driving footfall and bringing a city or destination together.

We talk about how Gloucester is investing in its cultural sector to retain its creative talent, and the idea of giving people freedom to curate the city with their own ideas and events. We chat about why it’s important for a Council and those with power, to hand over control to young people and others involved in the creative industries, to not only give the place life and distinction but to create a sense of belonging and pride.

There are some interesting insights into what it takes to drive a city’s culture.

I hope you enjoy the episode.

You can find Phil here:

LinkedIn
Twitter

Mentioned in the podcast:
Visit Gloucester
The Music Works
Jolt Gloucester

Huge thanks to podcast sponsor Noble Performs.
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Find out more about host Kelly Ballard and the Visitor Elves here.
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