​Festival Fortnight's Evaluation Report Launched

30th June 2020

Project evaluation, completed by external evaluator, Collaborate Consulting Ltd, is now published.

LEAP Sports are pleased to share Festival Fortnight’s external evaluation, completed by Steve Brown from Collaborate Consulting Ltd. The Impact Assessment was designed to improve how the annual Festival Fortnight was evaluated and to strengthen the evidence base, drawing together various experiences of the festival and considering outcomes and impacts. The evaluation document from the commission offers a distillation of work done by summarising key findings from data and evidence from previous festivals and consultation with staff, partners and volunteers. The document can be accessed here.

Festival Fortnight is a two-week annual programme of events held in June, coordinated by LEAP Sports Scotland. The festival aims to increase the participation and visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in Scottish sport, as well as exploring LGBTI and wider equality and human right issues in sport. The organised events serve to encourage LGBTI people and their friends to get involved in an exciting mix of sporting, cultural and recreational events and activities. The impact assessment facilitated the exploration of these aims and how the festival fulfilled them.

Chair of LEAP Sports Scotland, Frazer Robertson said:

"I'm delighted to be launching the Festival Fortnight evaluation report which is a great representation of how much the Festival has grown over the past 7 years. Having been involved from the very first Festival in 2013, it's been wonderful to see the breadth of events, the quality of events, and the impact of events grow year on year. The report gives us the opportunity to reflect and to grow and will help us to plan the 2021 Festival to be the biggest and the best to date".

LEAP Sports envision a future where everyone can access, participate, enjoy and excel in sport, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. Unfortunately, for many LGBTI people this isn’t the case, and social, structural and individual barriers stand in the way of their sporting journeys. Some of the barriers include restrictive sports policies and the absence of inclusive changing and toilet facilities/ sports equipment, which particularly affect trans and non-binary individuals; a lack of knowledge and understanding of LGBTI issues, as well as the invisibility of LGBTI people in mainstream sport, to name but a few.

Festival Fortnight strives to remove as many of these barriers as possible by:

• Increasing opportunities for LGBTI people to access sport while establishing pathways into regular participation;
• Celebrating and increasing the visibility of LGBTI people who already participate, enjoy and excel in sport, so that others can learn and share from their experience;
• Exploring LGBTI and equality and human rights issues in sport, sharing insight and knowledge to make sport more welcoming for all;
• Offering support and advice to help people get involved or to try something for the first time.

The Festival Fortnight model works through a partnership approach; although LEAP coordinates the festival, the vast majority of events are organised and run by partner organisations, whether they be LGBTI sports groups and clubs, wider sports clubs and governing bodies, LGBTI community groups or other equality organisations. In turn, LEAP Sports promotes the events, provides advice around inclusion, content and structure and covers some costs of events to make them financially accessible to participants where necessary. Festival Fortnight would also not be what it is without funding from The National Lottery Community Fund and all the volunteers who give up their time to ensure the events run smoothly and partners feel supported.

LEAP’s Participation & Engagement Manager, Sirri Topping said:

"It has been really insightful to get a depth of information from across the different festival stakeholders. It’s encouraging to see that the partnership model works and is mutually beneficial for partners, participants and LEAP. We want to encourage as many partners to open their doors as part of the festival, and it’s good to have the confidence to bring this model forward as a tried and tested way of working."

Unfortunately, Festival Fortnight 2020 has been cancelled due to COVID-19, however you can find out more about the festival at festivalfortnight.org or contact info@leapsports.org for more information. You can also view our Festival Fortnight evaluation video below.