Hopes for new tech festival to highlight Midland sector

PLANS to host a tech festival in the West Midlands akin to the famous South by Southwest event in Texas have been revealed.

Mayor Andy Street says he wants to create ‘FutureFest’ which he hopes will bring together people from across the global tech sector to the West Midlands where the industry is worth more than £15.3 billion.

Mr Street said the festival would provide a focal point for innovators from across the region and generate international connections and attract investment in fields such as tech and digital, music and TV.

There are no firm dates or venues for the festival.

His announcement comes four weeks ahead of the 2024 West Midlands mayoral election on May 2 when he is standing again.

The last South by Southwest festival in Austin held more than 450 sessions over nine days, with around 300,000 people attending.

Mr Street unveiled the plans for FutureFest at Jaguar Land Rover’s Engine Manufacturing Centre near Wolverhampton in front of staff and representatives from tech firms such as education start-up Study Stash, vehicle charging specialist Cord EV and digital transformation firm Agilyx who also spoke at the event.

Alongside the new tech festival, Mr Street said he wanted to expand the financing options for West Midlands start-ups and scale-ups, develop an AI action plan for the region and attract new inward investment from global tech companies.

He said: “Our tech sector is the fastest growing in the UK, not only forming an incredibly important part of our economy but also underpinning and driving growth in practically every other sector, from manufacturing to finance.

“FutureFest will help us highlight why this is a great place to base a tech firm and draw in even more investment in.”