Two-week event series Digital City Festival launched this morning with an opening event hosted by Professor Andy Miah of the University of Salford, speaking alongside a range of special guests to open the fortnight.
It concluded with a set from DJ Woody, whose audio-visual set kicked off StreamGM, the ethical platform championing talent from the Greater Manchester region from United We Stream.
Digital City Festival 2021 takes place in a truly digital form this year, hosting a wide range of thought leadership and panels on the Digital City Network – across marketing, tech, eCommerce, media and culture – as well as the chance to engage businesses at the exhibition showcase.
The network will also, throughout the next two weeks, host live Q&As, roundtables, cultural events and this year’s Digital City Awards.
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DJ Woody performed at the official Digital City Festival launch
The high-profile festival hosted its live launch event on the Digital City Network this morning, led by Professor Andy Miah, Chair in Science Communication and Future Media at the University of Salford. The launch was also broadcast live onto the public digital screen on the MediaCityUK piazza.
The festival is being broadcast directly from the top-class facilities at MediaCityUK, where Miah was hosting the launch from, with production by Badger & Combes and underpinned by the technical infrastructure of the event series’ Media Production Partner, dock10.
Miah welcomed all the attendees to the event, including many watching live on social media and the Digital City Network, before previewing the wide range of events and opportunities taking place on the network over the course of the next two weeks.
Next, Miah handed over to MediaCityUK’s MD Stephen Wild, who gave a short welcome to the venue and talked about the power of collaboration and innovation.
The launch was broadcast to MediaCityUK’s piazza
Wild said: “We look forward to Digital City Festival meeting the needs and aspirations of our customers, our wider audience, and the region in which we sit. We look forward to hearing some of the latest, broadest thinking in this collaborative and innovative environment created together with Digital City Festival.”
Digital City Festival Director Martyn Collins then provided a brief thank you to all the individuals and organisations who have helped make this year’s festival a reality. He said: “After a challenging year that has affected us all, it is really, truly special to see this festival come together in the way it has.”
Martyn’s talk was followed by addresses from both Headline Partners, before a brief tour of the network and the huge range of things on offer from Andy Miah.
The event closed with an exclusive live set from DJ Woody, a popular performer throughout the enormous success of United We Stream in 2020.
Woody’s set, a unique and high-impact combination of audio-visual content, celebrated Mancunian culture and music, providing an unforgettable experience for all in attendance.
