Festival organisers thrilled by attendance at weekend event

More than 50,000 people attended the final day of the two-day festival on Saturday, which coincided with the biggest match in 30 years between Hull's two professional rugby league clubs at the KC Stadium.

As well as providing a much-needed boost for the city's economy – last year it helped to generate about 9m – it has now put Hull firmly on the festival map.

Freedom 2010 is not likely to have been as profitable, as last year it was held in conjunction with the launch of the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race and attracted 150,000 visitors.

Organisers are nonetheless delighted by the projected returns on the 500,000 to 750,000 cost of staging the event, and its wider impact.

City council leader Carl Minns said: "It's not just a party, it's a way you can sell Hull and it makes us different.

"This is now the biggest mixed culture festival in Yorkshire and my ambition is to grow it and make it the largest in the UK.

"This is how you get people to see the good side of the city. The fact that it's a mix of cultures has been shown over the weekend. You've got French street theatre, I've just heard some local rappers and you've got a pop stage.

"There's something for everyone here and that's why it's fairly unusual on the festival map."

As well as expanding the festival, Coun Minns said he would also like to see more emphasis on its original theme – it was first staged in 2007 to celebrate the bicentenary of the abolition of the British slave trade, which followed a campaign led by city MP William Wilberforce.

Coun Minns said: "It's about celebrating freedom and you can celebrate freedom in different ways.

"I do think we need to build on that legacy of Wilberforce and wrap some things around what kicked it off in the first place.

"The first couple of years has been to get the festival established."

The festival was headlined by rising indie band Foals, with music stars including Mcfly and Alesha Dixon also appearing, as well as city-based musicians The Warren and Creative Voice.

The event was held at a series of venues across the "festival village" in the city centre, which included stages in Queens Gardens, the marina, Queen Victoria Square, the museums quarter and the Fruit Market.

Other acts included dance, comedy and theatre.

The most visually memorable performance – apart from the closing fireworks display – came from French street theatre artists Plasticiens Volants, who unleashed a parade of giant inflatable monsters which weaved through the crowds.

This followed the success of the fire and light installations created last year by another French art group, Carabosse.

Coun Minns said: "We've had UK and England premires of events and you wouldn't have thought that of Hull five years ago. We've got to try and keep excelling ourselves year on year and that's going lead to some challenges going forward, especially with budgets getting tighter."

Many residents said they now looked forward to the event every year.

Ruth Getz, 39, of Park Avenue, Hull, mother of Josephine, eight, and five-year-old Sonny, said: "The kids loved it. It's great to see so many kids with smiles on their faces.

"It's great for Hull to do this every year, it's becoming something the family all look forward to."