Sister Cities of Nashville

OBJECTIVE

Sister Cities of Nashville (SCN) embarked on an ambitious new endeavor in 2018 as they worked in conjunction with REACH to produce a five-day festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland that displayed the music, food and culture of Nashville.  In addition to the 'Nashville in Belfast' festival and in close partnership with Belfast City Hall, SCN worked to ensure that Nashville delegates had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with Belfast professionals in their respective industries or sectors.  

STRATEGY

REACH produced multiple concerts around the City of Belfast for the ‘Nashville in Belfast’ festival including a songwriters’ event with Nashville songwriter Brian Pounds, a concert at Ulster Hall with Nashville Recording Artist Kristian Bush (Sugarland) and a performance by Mandy Barnett with the Ulster Orchestra for an “I Love Nashville” concert, broadcast on BBC.

RESULT

Media exposure for Nashville included multiple interviews with Nashville artists Kristian Bush (Sugarland) and Mandy Barnett and the “I Love Nashville” concert broadcast on BBC, which airs on Radio Ulster with 536,000 listeners (36% of market); Waterfront and Ulster Hall “Front Row” magazines, featuring Nashville performances along with 17,000 copies; and City Matters Magazine, which featured Nashville in Belfast in which 155,000 residents received copies. Approximately 30,000 Belfast citizens were exposed to the music, culture and food of Nashville by attending the festival events. Further, Sister Cities Nashville won the Sister Cities International 2019 Innovation Award for Arts and Culture for the 'Nashville in Belfast' program.