Norfolk Broads lights show investigated over claims it was "waste of taxpayers' money"
The public spending watchdog is looking into the Green Space Dark Skies event, which was part of a £120m 'festival of Brexit'
A light show on the Norfolk Broads is among a series of arts projects being investigated by the public spending watchdog, amid claims it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.
The Green Space Dark Skies event was held on Barton Broad in June, as part of the £120m ‘festival of Brexit’.
The festival – which was later rebranded as ‘Unboxed’ – used public money to organise events throughout the country to showcase the creative sector and celebrate the UK’s departure from the EU.
Critics have since raised questions about whether the festival represented good value for money, with some reports suggesting the series of events attracted visitor numbers less than 1pc of early targets.
A cross-party parliamentary committee has asked the National Audit Office (NAO) to investigate.
The Broads show, described as a ‘secret gathering’ by organisers, saw dozens of people from local charities on board various vessels all fitted with differently-coloured electronic beacons, or ‘geolights’, creating a ‘light artwork’.
While few members of the public watched the spectacle live, it was turned into a short film which is available online. Fewer than 5,000 people have since watched the footage.
A spokeswoman for the festival refused to reveal how much taxpayer money was spent on the light show.
She said: “Green Space Dark Skies saw the creation of filmed artworks in the landscape by members of the public in 20 rural locations across the UK in 2022.
“One of the aims of Green Space Dark Skies was to facilitate access to the outdoors for those who do not normally visit the countryside.
“For our event at Barton Broad in Norfolk, Green Space Dark Skies supported vulnerable people from local community groups and their staff.”
She said the location, which is difficult to view without a boat, was chosen due to its proximity to charities involved in the project.
Conservative MP Julian Knight, who chairs the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, said: “That such an exorbitant amount of public cash has been spent on a so-called celebration of creativity that has barely failed to register in the public consciousness raises serious red flags about how the project has been managed from conception through to delivery.”
The festival spokeswoman added that reported statistics, particularly a 240,000 figure for visitor numbers, misrepresented public engagement and reflected attendance at only eight of the 107 physical locations within the programme.
Festival organisers initially set a “stretch target” of 66 million visitors.
A government spokesperson said more than four million people have engaged with the programme.