Establishing the UK's SXSW

The Great Escape

Story

Borkowski’s role was to elevate the status of The Great Escape festival, to drive ticket sales and to ensure it be acknowledged as the South by Southwest® of Europe and as the authority on new music for both the trade and music lovers of all ages. We created unique and unusual shows within the festival to get people talking; Mura Masa’s gig at All Saints Church, the Slaves’ had the biggest Pier party Brighton had ever seen and local hero Rag ‘n’ Bone Man rapped for charity generating a mound of positive press and noise about the festival. We introduced convention strands that would provide a platform for artists to discuss important and newsworthy topics in the music industry like mental health. Over the six years Borkowski have worked for The Great Escape, attendance has nearly doubled and the festival is now a global authority within the music industry.

Impact Highlights

“If anyone had any doubts that The Great Escape is the most important UK music festival for new bands, new trends and making new friends then they most certainly got knocked out of the water this year. 10 years in, and TGE went harder than ever before. It’s sprawling, ambitious and so, so exciting.”

“Boisterously entertaining….the stature of Brighton’s Great Escape festival has reached the music industry importance of Midem (Cannes), South By Southwest (Texas) and Winter Music Conference (Miami

“The UK's answer to SXSW…The Great Escape do things differently.”

“The Great Escape festival is a hallucinatory post-impressionist blur …You ricochet around it, tasting the joys of the unexpected.”

Over 1250
pieces of coverage
generated
30+ hours
BBC radio broadcast-
The second largest coverage
BBC Radio
20 media
partnerships
(YouTube,
Box Plus,
Vevo)

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