The first Wealden Food and Wine Festival in 2014 cost £25,000. The work was worth every penny. The income and interest generated demonstrates the potential for the event to become a regular occasion. These kinds of success can grow organically and of course as word spreads, with good publicity, festivals can develop their own life and spirit.—Bay Life, 25 February 2016
Lots more publicity to come, a sneak peak, courtesy of Jayne Howard, of the fabulous treat that is the Wealden Food and Wine Festival, which is to take place 16—17 July 2016, in the grounds of Pevensey Castle.
As Jayne Howard says… “Yay, back where it belongs …. “. Welcome home.
Fallow year for us in 2015 with the festival… 5,678 people were recorded as attending the event over the weekend in 2014, this year (weather permitting) we could be seeing as many as 10,000+ people… what a treat is in store for us this summer.
…and there is lots more to come about what will be happening in Pevensey and the Bay this summer.. nationally acclaimed acts at St. Nicolas Church as part of the 800th anniversary of the church foundation, the Scarecrow Festival 2016, the launch in late summer of the extraordinary £19.8 million Whale Hall in Cambridge with the Pevensey Whale as the star attraction, publicity possibly across the country for the Pevensey Whale, and news of grants for two arts based projects in the locality this summer shortly to be announced… and quite possibly some more new ventures.
Congratulations to all the councils, organisations, stakeholders, volunteers, residents and premier local businesses doing so much to raise the profile of the locality as a visitor destination and a place for residents to make us proud.
The first Wealden Food and Wine Festival cost £25,000 net (gross £34,000– with £9,000 income). The work was worth every penny. The income generated demonstrates the potential for the event to become a regular occasion.
The value of the spend by visitors on other ‘local attractions’ does not form part of the report, but is is worth pointing out that with close to 6,000 people at the Pevensey Castle site over the weekend, the benefits for local businesses from public houses to cafes, shops and other ‘feature businesses’, will have been noted.
The Festival Report published in November 2014 was written by Jane Kilby at Wealden Council. One of the key parts of her report looked at possible ways of sustaining the festival.
Next Year?
When planning for next year, officer time to be considered and the costings. It is also important to keep the event in-house, as we have more control of format etc. plus the costs to outsource would be very high.This year we secured £1,250 in sponsorship from three different businesses. Sponsorship could be the way forward as budgets will dwindle over the next few years, so could be worth seeking a bigger sponsor, especially a business from the area, but work to secure this needs to start early.
The Report is worth a read because there is much detail in the findings.
The statistics with regard to visitor attendance and the feedback from visitors to the festival show the value of the event, in particular to local people (24% of the people walked to the festival).
It would be accurate to describe the festival as a ‘home grown success’.
These kinds of success can grow organically and of course as word spreads, with good publicity, festivals can develop their own life and spirit.
The Wealden Food and Wine Festival has the hallmarks to become local treasure.
With possible development, might come a growing reputation, and with a growing reputation comes interest. What is also marked is that the first festival attracted as much as £1,250 in terms of sponsorship.
With projected numbers beyond the 6,000 mark, it is not impossible to envisage a major local sponsor coming forward for this second festival.
The potential value to the locality in terms of profile with the Wealden Food and Wine Festival may be significant.
Feedback forms were available over the weekend and people were employed to interview visitors. The feedback makes fascinating reading with regard to the interest shown, for example, by other local ‘feature businesses’.
What a fabulous event Well organised thanks to you and your team Everyone we spoke to had nothing but praise It also helped to raise the profile of the village and special buildings like the Court House and Stone Cross Windmill so many thanks for inviting us….Stone Cross Mill
Profiling the locality as a visitor destination is so important. By inviting other local ‘feature businesses’, the benefits of the weekend multiplied. It was one of many ways in which the savvy profiling of the event worked well.
The Wealden Food and Wine Festival also acts as an impetus to other ‘micro’ entrepreneurial initiatives and business activity in the locality.
Without question there is new economic activity in the locality. This activity did not start with the Wealden Food and Wine Festival, but what the work did was to set out the stall and help to make things happen.
This kind of seedcorn funding is vital to the close network of local villages in terms of economic and social wellbeing.
What is fundamentally important is that local business activity becomes sustainable. One of the goals of the festival, in part, was to put the locality back on the map as a visitor destination. That is exactly what seems to be happening.
Festivals work with seasons. There is something special about ‘seasonal’ activity within rural locations because of the nature of the landscape and the closeness to a rich agricultural heritage. Events that grow with the seasons in this kind of climate can bear fruit.
The foundations for the festival are now rooted in the natural setting of a 2,000 year old castle. The soil is rich with possibilities.
If Food and Wine be the music of love, play on Pevensey Castle.
The work done by Wealden Council and all the staff working on this festival, which is taking six months planning, is a credit to the local authority.
Simon Montgomery
editor, Bay Life
