Funding is becoming increasingly difficult to secure. The impending ‘credit crunch’, increased competition for funding, mainstreaming of activities, plus the increasing significance and power of the larger organisations in the city (LARC, aka the Big is starting to impact on the smaller organisations. Much of my time is spent on attempting secure funds and lobby for the small and medium sized organisations through SMAC (Small & Medium Arts Collective). Hope Street is not alone and other small organisations are beginning to feel what will inevitably follow being Capital of Culture… EuroCities invited me to speak at their annual conference about the impact of Capital of Culture on small and medium arts organisations. I was nervous but honoured to share the same session with Sir Bob Scott and Dr. Beatriz Garcia… My treat, after the conference, was to visit Liverpool One, Liverpool’s new shopping district that connects the city centre to the river like never before. A fantastic experience… Our collaboration with Momentum Theatre continued with Physical Fest 4, a festival growing in significance and stature; one of the festival’s highlights being Yoshi Oida… Another highlight was the Hope Street produced About Another Place, a promenade performance piece that will be developed in 2009 by UK playwright Mike Kenny and French director and designer Catherine Poher. The piece incorporates Antony Gormley’s world famous statues… As I attempted to see something of everything that was taking place this month, I recalled statements made by artists in Rotterdam, who said that there as simply too much going on and audiences were spoilt for choice… I felt swamped by the plethora of events, festivals and shows taking place in June: Lord Mayor’s Parade, Ark Royal, Splatterfest, Comedy Festival, a packed season at the Unity and new plays at the Everyman and Playhouse… Admittedly, I was in Croatia for some of June; there I saw (on TV) the opening ceremony of the Rijeka Festival, which was stunning, and more impressive than the finale of the Streets Ahead Festival… Highlight of the month? Superlambananas - 116 of them around the city designed by local artists and community groups. We’ve seen this kind of thing before with the decorated cows in numerous cities (I spotted them last in Marseille), but what a stroke of genius to make something as unpopular as the Superlambanana was, as treasured as it now is.