When there’s no food in it!
But welcome to the Royal Welsh Smallholder & Garden Festival, which ran from 21 – 22 May as the new Food Hall housed the Green Horizons (Eco) Exhibition. Sadly some traders who understood they’d paid to be part of that event, were instead put into the Members Restaurant, where there was a distinct lack of customer throughput and for many traders a waste of two days trading.
As reported here on 21st July 2010 at the Royal Welsh, amid great pomp and trumpet fanfare, Rural Minister Elin Jones officially opened the new Food Hall on the showground announcing a new deal between the Welsh Assembly Government, WAG ,and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, RWAS, to manage the £1.6m food hall. I am told that WAG will financially support the Food Hall with £300,000 over the next three years, which means RWAS will be paid £100k per year for WAG to run two food events, the Royal Welsh and the Winter Fair. So that’s why no food in there this time but to the visitors it looks totally stupid to have this new, expensvie Food Hall – but without food in it. Although that’s the latest figure I’ve heard, I’m sure that this isn’t the only money Wag is putting into the RWAS.
Ewan
May 24, 2011 at 3:20 pm
You’re being silly Kath, a new food hall having food in it, whatever will you expect next? WAG to listen and react!!!!! You can be so funny.
Seriously though, if you look at it from the visitor’s point of view, they will of course expect to have a food hall with food in it – who wouldn’t? Visitors will not know the politics and they wont care either.
the old food hall was very good indeed, whoever did all that works deserves good funding, not being ignored. It’s impossible to understand. I thought food was vital to Wales, but now with no Rural minister it can’t be a priority, so watch your backs producers.
smallholder
May 25, 2011 at 3:13 pm
Let’s look at this event from a visitor’s point of view
new food hall – where’s the food? If they have never been to builth before, they’ve now to buy a programme to find out where food has been moved to. Great game.
I’m clueless with welsh politics and the deal the goverment has done with royal welsh, but I’m certain they’ve put shedloads of money into this event and into this new food hall. Is it value for money for us taxpayers? Doesn’t seem like it, but will we ever get to know the financial facts? Guess that’s unlikely
jenny
May 26, 2011 at 8:50 am
I was at the royal last year and had no idea the new food hall was only being used by wag twice a year. Did they fund any of the new food hall build? The other poser is how much do wag pay the royal for this building, is it £100k per year? If so, how can this be realistic for what is just over a week’s rent?
di
May 26, 2011 at 8:55 am
New food hall with no food in it, is not funny
It makes us look very silly, all that fuss about it opening last year, what a joke.
Sandy
June 9, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Food should surely be in the Food Hall, if not why has all this money been spent on this building? To be used just twice a year? Wasn’t this building designed specifically for food?
Sadly whoever did this design for the new food hall didn’t seem to have much idea on what we needed there, yet it must have been Wag and RWAS that gave them the job and I bet they got paid a fortune.