PRESS RELEASE: New festival to celebrate the cultural impact and potential of internet technologies…

Thursday 24th August 2006

The iFest Partnership today announces the launch of a new festival that will take place in Edinburgh during August 2008.

iFest – the internet festival and conference – will bring together people from the arts, film, music, media, broadcasting, technology and telecommunication industries, as well as anyone interested in the cultural dimension of the world wide web.

Through a programme of talks, workshops, performances and debates delegates and audience members will be able to discover innovative cultural uses of the internet, to collaborate on ground breaking web-based performances, to try out and demonstrate new internet related technologies and to investigate and discuss ways they will further enable the cultural community.

iFest will have a base in central Edinburgh, but will reach out to delegates and audience members all over the world through a dynamic online dimension, which will promote both iFest and Edinburgh’s other summer festivals to an audience worldwide.

The core aim of iFest is to bring together people and organisations from the diverse cultural, media and technology communities to share knowledge, ideas and insight. The festival will be an eclectic event, tapping into the latest developments, ideas and passions of each community.

With this in mind The iFest Partnership are encouraging anyone working in these sectors interested in being involved in iFest – or in creating, presenting, co-promoting or sponsoring an event or strand at the festival – to get in touch. An iFest website is now online at http://ifestedinburgh.net, and anyone interested in getting involved or finding out more can do so via the website.

For more press information contact Chris Cooke at chris@ifestedinburgh.net

Notes to editors

iFest – the motivation and ethos

Over the last twenty years the internet has created a unique new channel through which the creative communities can connect, collaborate and communicate - with each other, and with their audience.

The true creative and cultural potential of internet technologies is only now really being explored. Through a messy and, at times, expensive process of trial and error, the cultural world is discovering what works and what doesn’t work, and in doing so building new creative tools, new media channels, new business models and, perhaps, whole new ways of working.

This process involves disparate communities and industries – people from the arts, film, music, media, broadcasting, technology and telecommunication sectors – some working within multinational conglomerates, others entrepreneurs building their own businesses, others individuals operating from home.

iFest – the Internet Festival and Conference - will bring these people together for the first time, providing an opportunity to network, share and collaborate in order to achieve the true social and cultural benefits that the very latest technology enables. At the same time these people will be provided with a platform to demonstrate or present their work – providing the world at large with a ‘moment in time’ showcase of how the internet is enhancing community and culture right now, and how society and culture can benefit further with the internet technologies of the future.

iFest is about collaboration – it is about bringing together the arts, entertainment, media, technology and communications industries, and giving each sector the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of the other, to utilize each others skills and know-how to achieve their own cultural ambitions. http://ifestedinburgh.net website will act as a conduit for these communities to suggest and discuss what the iFest will be.

There are few places on Earth where it is possible to bring together representatives of these diverse industries. One place is in Edinburgh during August – where hundreds of key players from the arts, entertainment and media worlds already amass to present their work, consume the work of others, and to collaborate with their contemporaries.

iFest will add to that mix leading players in technology and communication – two industries often divorced from the more traditional cultural industries, but people who play an increasingly important role in our wider cultural development. These people will be brought into the festival city – physically or virtually – completing Edinburgh’s status as the biggest cultural melting pot on the planet.

If you are interested in getting involved in iFest 2008, or in creating, presenting, co-promoting or sponsoring an event or strand at the festival, contact the Chair of The iFest Partnership Alan Ogilvie at alan@ifestedinburgh.net