Was it worth waiting for? I’ll await your views!!!!
It’s taken a lot of time and a great deal of effort to get this list and I had to resort to asking for it under Freedom Of Information Act, so I hope that you appreciate the effort involved!!!! I’m not sure that you’ll agree with Wag’s and Visit Wales’ decisions, but sure you will let me know by posting your comments or email me with your views.
My initial concern was that two events that run in early March Saundersfoot and a Swansea festival and will run again 2013 but still count as in this year’s budget have not been shown. So I’m asking if this is an error or if these events are running again next year. My other surprise is that Fish Week now appears in this budget taking out a whacking £31, 671. I thought that this event was funded under RDP for 2007-13 and last year received grant funding of £55,636, plus £30,711 from Pembrokeshire County Council, in 2010 grant funding was £77,157. I have also asked why Fish Week is now being taken from the festival budget.
In case you wish to know, 52 food festivals applied for the Food Festival Grant Funding Support for 2012/13 and to save you totting up, I’ll tell you that only 33 festivals were lucky enough to get funding, with some as always, appearing luckier than others. I’m interested to know if any of the food festivals got the amount of money they applied for. I’d also like to know how those in power wokred out the amounts they were going to offer each festival, but even I can’t be bothered to pursue that one!!!
I do wonder about the wisdom, or lack of wisdom, in that Newport and Neath have each been given £8k – £9k but they are running on the same weekend, as it Brecon, though Brecon will obviously draw from Powys for producers. But do we really have enough quality producers to put on three good festivals? Time will tell, but I do hope these three festivals, maybe more than most put some serious energy into their promotion and marketing. Traders you have been warned, please ask before you pay, because unhappy Best Of Welsh & Border producers I do not need!
Wag’s ‘Big 3’: Abergavenny, Cardiff and Conwy have all had budget reductions from last year, but 10/11 was the final year on a 3 year plan, funded under the Total Supply Chain Efficiency Funding. These all had huge increases from 08/09 – 10/11, for example Conwy went from £25k, to £43k to £41k and now this year gets £33,683.61. What continues to puzzle me is that wag has been sounding off for years that festivals must try to get to be self-funding and these three have the best chance for sponsorship, but they are still well funded as wag has now decreed that they have been awarded ‘international’ status which is an easy way of wag saying: “don’t worry we’ll keep funding you guys”…………………………..
Any further updates will of course be posted.
| Name of Festival |
Date |
Amount of |
| Gorseinon Food Festival |
28 April |
£8,460.00 |
| Riverside Food Festival |
20 May |
£2,249.00 |
| Caerphilly Food Festival |
26 May |
£9,753.00 |
| Welsh Perry & Cider Festival |
1 – 4 June |
£5,260.00 |
| Llyn Land & Seafood Festival |
2 – 3 June |
£8,230.00 |
| Gwyl Fwyd Castell Newydd Emlyn |
16 June |
£7,133.80 |
| The Pembrokeshire Fish Week Festival |
23 June – 1 July |
£31,671.00 |
| Hay Food Festival |
30 June |
£2,601.00 |
| Llandysul Food Festival |
30 June |
£5,644.00 |
| Margam Festival - Margam Market Day |
01 July |
£9,889.20 |
| Cardiff International Food & Drink |
6 – 8 July |
£25,608.85 |
| Cardigan Bay Seafood Festival, Aberaeron |
08 July |
£9,500.00 |
| Eating Green / Cider Palooza Festival |
12 – 14 July |
£5,000.00 |
| Really Wild Food & Countryside Festival |
27 – 28 July |
£11,963.77 |
| Lampeter Food Festival |
28 July |
£6,150.00 |
| Carmarthen Food Festival |
01 August |
£6,500.00 |
| Cardigan River & Food Festival |
11 – 12 August |
£10,400.00 |
| Welsh Food Festival |
1 – 2 September |
£6,225.00 |
| Aberystwyth Food & Drink Festival |
15 September |
£7,418.61 |
| Abergavenny Food Festival | 15–16 September |
£46,800.00 |
| Narberth Food Festival | 21–23 September |
£8,161.40 |
| Mold Food and Drink Festival | 22- 23 September |
£8,025.00 |
| Feastival (Bridgend) | 28- 29 September |
£9,900.00 |
| Newport Food Festival |
5 – 6 October |
£8,105.97 |
| Neath Food and Drink Festival |
5 – 6 October |
£9,999.00 |
| Brecon Beacons Food Festival |
06 October |
£4,480.00 |
| Anglesey Oyster Festival |
13 – 14 October |
£3,098.00 |
| Mumbles Oyster Fair |
19 – 21 October |
£9,500.00 |
| Llangollen Food Festival |
20 – 21 October |
£4,000.00 |
| Gwledd Conwy Feast |
25 – 28 October |
£33,683.61 |
| Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival |
27 – 28 October |
£9,900.00 |
| Hay Winter Food Festival |
24 November |
£1,771.00 |
| Abergavenny Christmas Food & Drink |
11 December |
£2,200.00 |
Wag’s list has now gone up on welshcountry.co.uk and of course it has been sent around our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers, so at least some of the rumours which have been frantically doing the rounds, will now be quashed.