I am often asked what I have enjoyed most about being British ambassador to Guatemala. A really really difficult question, because there are so many things – and so many people –which make this role a great privilege and great fun. It has to be said though that being in Tikal Futura listening to Guatemalan bands playing Beatles’ numbers and the thousand-plus people in the audience singing along word-for-word is something that as British Ambassador gives you goose-bumps! This year will be the tenth year of this amazing festival of Beatles’ music and the third year I will have attended. The power of music to cross frontiers, oceans and generations is phenomenal and definitely something worth celebrating.
Here in Guatemala though, it’s not just the Beatles who enjoy huge support. I have had the good fortune to attend tributes to Queen and Pink Floyd and am constantly amazed (and inspired) by the huge following their music has here. At our Queen’s Birthday Party this year, we enjoyed an extensive repertoire of British music – Fleetwood Mac, Robbie Williams, Ed Sheeran et al – courtesy of the very talented One Man Band.
And as well as music there’s film: Bohemian Rhapsody, which brought British music and film together, and has reminded us all, again, why we love those 6 minutes of haunting melody; Rocketman the biopic of superstar Elton John, the premiere of which was extremely well attended here. James Bond films are more eagerly awaited than any other franchise. When we held the premiere for Spectre here in Guatemala, we had to hire an extra cinema to cope with the numbers of people who wanted to attend. Normally for Embassy events, we calculate if you invite 100, 60 will come. For James Bond, if you invite 100, 160 come!
It’s difficult to put your finger on what makes these very British icons so successful, with both universal and local appeal. Clearly UK creativity plays a key role as does our education system. Encouraging students, of all ages, to be curious, to think for themselves and to challenge constructively. Our diversity is also important. We are a multi-ethnic, multi-faith country where everyone is free to be themselves and to love whomever they choose. Such freedom of thought and action fosters creativity. The result is that despite representing less than 1% of the world’s population, the UK has one of the largest creative industry sectors of any country. The UK is also rated 4thglobally for having “creative, cutting-edge ideas and new ways of thinking.”
The creative industries are now worth over £101bn to the British economy. Something worth singing about. All together now, Hey Jude….