So, that’s the end of that! The Abandon Normal Devices Festival (AND) is over for another year after what, for me, has been a fruitful weekend. But how does one gauge success, what is the barometer?

A key indicator of any event’s success or failure, pure and simple, is foot-fall. I don’t have the statistics to hand, but based on my experience AND 2011 has flourished, with FACT in-particular seeming to benefit from incredible installations such as Kurt Hentschlager’s ZEE (see Friday’s blog), and people buzzing between the gallery spaces, the cafe and the Box (special screening room) nonstop.

Even on Saturday afternoon, post-Merseyside derby on one of the warmest days of the year, the turnout in Leaf for the Fanaticism Salon was impressive. Though I’m told some of the film screenings numbers have been low, we probably have to look no further than the weather to provide some answers here.

Yet more positive evidence was the broad spectrum of responses to the festival’s theme of Belief; from the purely traditional (people pausing for evening prayer during Arab spring demonstrations in Tahrir Square) to our conviction and faith in the future, for better or worse, demonstrated by works such as Revital Cohen’s The Immortal. Of course, it helps that the standard of work on show has been of the highest quality; some pieces genuinely unforgettable.

Encouraging times then for a festival still in its relative infancy (this was AND’s third year in existence). Heartening also that as its reputation has grown the organisers have stuck to their brief of curating a festival high on experimentation and creative freedom, knowing that sometimes this will result in the expense of ease of public engagement. Having said that, the odd crowd-pleasing happening found its way in: David Shrigley ‘tattooing’ people in a shop window on Bold Street certainly drew a crowd; the likes of Shrigley provide the vital public engagement that AND Festival needs if it is to continue to thrive.

Opening night brought with it calls from Director of FACT Mike Stubbs that visitors suspend their disbelief over the course of the weekend, rather than approach with blind faith what was in store, and you kind of know what he was getting at. For me though, belief works just fine, certainly if the success of this weekend is anything to go by.

Image courtesy of Brian Slater

Blog by Mike Pinnington, editor of forthcoming Arts, Design, Film and Music website, thedoublenegative.co.uk – Launching later this year – follow their progress on twitter: @doublenegativeM / @doublenegativeL