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Posts Tagged ‘Royal Welsh Show’

Abergavenny Food Festival & Royal Welsh Show – Changes At The Top

04 Sep

Things are certainly up for change in the Welsh food world. As Wynfford James leaves FFMDD, along come two posts that will also have a big effect on the Welsh rural and food scene.

It was announced last month that the chief executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, David Walters, is to leave the organisation next year when he reaches retirement age next May.

Now a Chief Executive is required for Abergavenny Food Festival following Kim Waters who is leaving the festival after 14 years in post. So if you are a person with good corporate, management, marketing and financial skills, can work from Abergavenny and would like the post of part-time Chief Executive, then get your CV in before 23rd September.

 

 
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Royal Welsh Show – Where Their Money Comes From

26 Jul

I was interested to study some figures from RWAS and thought some might be of interest to you, showing the growth of this venue.

In 1981 for the four day show attendance was 155,606 with £55,497 subscriptions/memberships. Gate receipts and entry fees were £403,072 with surplus £89,715 and capital expenditure of £87,170. The Surplus (Deficit) does not included Life Membership and Restricted Fund Income and expenditure.

In 1991 attendances were, 219,053 and subscriptions £157,449. Gate receipts and entry fees were £1,034,522, surplus £122,260 and capital expenditure £343,970.

In 2011 attendances were 227,513 and subscriptions were £475,198. Gate receipts and entry fees were £2,038,734, surplus/deficit (£9,887) and capital expenditure £1,398,676.

Membership of the RWAS is currently 18,375 and the new Members’ Centre was built next to the main ring for the 2011 show. Each year a Welsh county is featured and that county raises funds during the year in which they are featured at the show. The money raised is devoted to special projects for the showground development, nominated by the individual feature county. About one-third of the £12million invested in the showground has been raised by the counties.

Generous contributions have been made by the Local Authorities to the Feature Counties during the period 1963 to 2008. From 2009 onwards, a consolidated package of Local Government funding was secured for the RWAS. The Welsh Local Government Association has set up the mechanism which provides assurance of funding by administering a top slice arrangement with a sum set aside each year from the Local Government settlement.

 

 
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Local Welsh Food At Royal Welsh Show

25 Jul

There was huge relief all round that the sun shone on the showground in Builth Wells. I visited on Monday and after signing in at the press Office and able to get a cup of PG Tips …….despite the fact that Welsh Brew Tea had two stands at the show; I made my way to the Food Hall. Before I entered the Welsh Food Hall, I had to pass a mobile van selling ice-cream, nothing wrong in that you might think, but you’d be wrong, this van was Kelly’s Of Cornwall, yes guys Cornwall!!! In our Welsh Food Hall there must have been at least three Welsh producers selling ice-cream and the quality of their product I know is second to none but why should they have to compete with a van from Cornwall just outside the Food Hall? Is there a Cornwall foodie insider working on their behalf in the RWAS? Or is there another reason for Cornwall ice-cream to have such a prominent position alongside our Food Hall. Now please don’t think that Kelly’s of Cornwall is a mini family business, because I didn’t walk the entire Welsh Showground I counted a total of three Kelly stands there. Now of course I’m aware just buy looking at the ‘quality’ of some of the stands at the outer reaches of the show ground that the RWAS must take any stand that wishes to attend, but is it really beyond the comprehension of RWAS and Wag Food to put in at least some effort to push Welsh food first.

I saw a few red banners bearing Welsh Assembly Government logo, saying there were supporting rural business, but perhaps micro and small food producers don’t come under Wag’s count of rural businesses. You hardly need to be the ‘Brain of Wales’ to work out that this mobile ice-cream van could easily have been sited elsewhere, it is after all a very large show ground and all it needed was a little thought and for Wag Food to recall who they are actually working for. Perhaps this might just get me into another game of ping pong when Wag might say it is not their jurisdiction and pass it over to RWAS, but if that’s the case RWAS might care to recall that Wag is possibly their biggest single benefactor. For as I understand it Wag allegedly put into the RWAS coffers via various means £1m for the summer show. Wag ‘occasionally’ forgets that those doing the paying, do the saying too.  Wag does use this ploy elsewhere, but that is another story to be aired here later.

So that was my day off to a poor start, but could it get worse? Sadly yes it could and it did. As I walked around the Food Hall, and I did that many times during the day, what struck me, as it did when Wag first opened this building is a total lack of anywhere to sit. There where no seating areas inside at all and it got to the stage where some people had no option but to sit on the floor. Good heavens what is life coming to that this obvious one to me anyway, is not important to the powers-that-be? There was space for seating areas to be done, as they were last year, but if you go onto Preseli Coffee or visit Welsh Brew Tea for a well earned cuppa, it appears you just wander around trying to drink it. As for food if you wish to buy some of the fabulous food on offer, then you eat on the hoof or go outside and find an area of grass to camp down. People resorted to sitting on the concrete steps outside and because the weather was lovely and warm, I guess that was better than nothing for them. But this area was not cleaned on a regular basis, not sure that I actually saw that many cleaners on my travels. But surely the infamous Food Hall should be a priority for cleanliness. I did find around one corner of the Hall just a few tables and chairs, but there was no bin sited there, just a few plastic bags tied to railings and the floor was nothing short of a disgrace. The demo kitchen, which ran last year in the Food Hall wasn’t there this year, but even that extra space didn’t spur Wag to provide a seating area. I would have thought that the longer we can keep people interested in the Food Hall the more opportunities for our producers to sell to them – but what do I know? Answers by email only please!!!!!!

So Wag; if that’s your showcase of Welsh Food, your standards need to rise. There were some outstanding producers in the Food Hall and many of them were our Best Of Welsh & Borders and I was delighted to be associated with them. What a choice of food on offer but what a dreadful shame I felt that they were let down by Wag once again.

I was told that Horeb Food Centre was having some sort of event in the room above the Food Hall, but think my invite got lost in the post, unless Horeb Food Centre had nothing to tell the press.

I was told by one producer that it cost £750 for a single fronted stand and £900 for a corner stand; this includes a table and two chairs and two tickets per day. Well although this is for four days, it’s still a huge amount of money bearing in mind if you want an extra table, that’s another twenty pounds, there was no chiller area this year, but of course if you wished to hire a fridge from them they could do that – for another fee. Last year the traders had a coffee and tea machine and water provided, this year they only had water, but no explanation for the change this year, maybe they are expected to just be grateful they got water included for their £750 fee. I’ve just checked my old records for RWAS 2008. According to the letter I have it says that it costs Wag £50k plus vat to hire the old Food Hall for the summer show alone and an additional £180k plus vat for stand build, graphics and dressing. In 2010 my info states a single fronted stand £355 plus vat and £405 plus vat for a corner stand. In 2011 prices I have show £600 plus vat which is £750 for a single fronted stand and £700 plus vat for a corner stand which is £875.

Every time I go into this new Food Hall, I cannot forget that this building was designed by a food expert, no doubt at huge cost, bearing in mind the bill was £1.6m, but on the plus side at least after the first shambolic opening in 2010, the stands are no longer in long straight runs, so it does work better and allows much easier traffic flow. But that is really my only plus point. Wag Food pay the RWAS £100k per year so that they have this building for the Royal and the Winter Fair, which is a lot of money to then fail to showcase the Best Of Welsh food – and of course that figure is only the start of the costs. For the old Food Hall, Wag paid £50k per year to RWAS, so a 50% increase is not a bad earner for the RWAS is it?

Farmers’ Market
The warm weather certainly played into the hands of the Farmers’ Market which had about 10 quality stands and wooden tables and benches so people could buy and eat and drink. It proved a popular area and I hope that it is a good four days trading for our producers.

HCC -Hybu Cig Cymru

Sorry guys, I’d forgotten I’d been invited to an HCC breakfast and press conference and listened to the HCC Chairman and the Deputy Food Minister each give an address, both delighted with the export sales they have achieved this year and that they had invited a party of Italians over in an effort to win our trade for that market. I just wished I’d had both those men with me at a Slow Food Movement lunch I was invited to last week. A lady who had recently moved to Wales complained to me that she struggled to find Welsh meat in her local supermarket and why was that considering all around her cottage she’s surrounded by sheep. I suggested she rang HCC, but there was no hope that would happen, she was just so annoyed that buying Welsh meat should be a challenge. So I gave her a copy of Welsh Country magazine – highlighted her nearest butchers and she was happy.

Over the years we’ve talked to HCC endlessly by phoning, hoping we could find a way to work together and obviously help our local butchers especially those already with us on Best Of Welsh & Borders listing, but also to help local butchers in their battle against the supermarkets. We’ve even had a meeting with them, which was not fruitful and we’ve talked regularly with their PR Agency, who did tell one of my team she ‘was too passionate about Welsh food’ – can you believe that? So there’s no point me mentioning this issue again with HCC because they don’t believe what I’m saying. So no progress there for, whilst they are busy bragging about their exports.

Stubbins Marketing and Puffin Produce both had stands there, generously giving away samples and encouraging people to buy in their local supermarket – great. So this raises my next question, what’s the point of the Royal Welsh Food Hall?

It appears to me that Wag focus the food hall to help promote Welsh food to the supermarkets. Indeed the Royal Welsh has to be the show where all the UK food buyers for the bigger supermarkets and wholesalers are all present. So it follows that the larger food producers should be in attendance and presenting their produce in the most professional manner. For these companies the restrictions of the food hall maybe isn’t quite right for their companies. Perhaps a corner stand isn’t big enough for them. They might want more space, they might want more raz ma taz and to be able to offer a little hospitality on their stand. On the other hand in the promotion from the Royal Welsh, it highlights the Food Hall as a fantastic place for the farmer’s wife and the family to go and find excellent Welsh food; it doesn’t say you’ll then struggle to eat it. This is a wonderful concept and should be applauded, but the two do not really go together. Indeed by putting the two together in my view spoil both sides of this coin. This hinders supplies to the supermarkets because the buyers are not treated with true VIP hospitality as they are at some speciality wholesale shows, but for the smaller producers selling to the general public, they are hindered with supposed restrictions on sales and not good facilities for the public to enjoy the food that they purchase. I do accept that some smaller producers do wish to go the supermarket route too but this is not difficult to sort out – simply ask them!!!! There must be a better way to make more out of what should be an amazing showcase for our artisan producers and they have never needed Wag’s support more to fight the recession and for many the supermarkets too, but if only they could get that support.

I do understand that it will not be easy answer, but please WAG bring your head out of the sand and face facts, actually engage with producers and just to be clear, I mean talk to them and then listen carefully to what they say – do realise that this will not be a simple task for you because many producers simply don’t trust you as civil servants, they don’t believe you have their best interests at heart in fact many don’t think you are interested ion tghem at all. But as some members of the food team can’t even say hello to producers at these types of events, you have a long hard road to climb, but it is of your own making.

Things can be improved to the benefit of all, to the reputation of Wales as a whole and more importantly for Welsh food to all sectors of society.

The speech made by the Deputy Food Minister at the HCC breakfast was very full, and from industry people I spoke to later in the day, their view was it was very full of hot air and Bet Fred could have taken good money on the number of times that the Deputy Minister said talk. Talking is good, but only good if it is linked with listening, that is why we have one mouth and two ears. It has been said by the Deputy Minister and others from the Welsh Food Department and its many institutional offshoots, that there is very little wrong and they hear very few complaints from food producers.

All businesses know that it is looking at the weaker areas of their business and it is by improving these areas that good businesses succeed and grow, i.e. by being self critical. May be we can all learn from one of the best and brightest business men to walk the planet – Bill Gates who once said “I am self-critical … I’m always searching for things I’m NOT perfect in.”

 
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Smallholder Funding – Or Lack Of It

28 Oct

Regular followers of welshfoodbites might recall the furore when this year’s festival funding was allocated and the shock horror when we learnt that the Smallholder Show would no longer be funded as it didn’t fulfil Wag criteria that food must be the core activity.   

To quickly update you on the background Wag used to run the Food Hall and then asked Steve Shearman – Farmer’s Markets In Wales to run it on their behalf – which he did very successfully. But at this year’s food festival organisers meeting, which Mr Shearman was again invited to, that was the message he was given. Despite the fact that he’d already taken bookings, and after talking to some of the stand holders, he did the honourable thing and went ahead this year, although stand fees had a sizeable increased.

That you might think would be the end of another sad saga, but I decided to raise and Freedom Of Information Act, FOI question about how much money Wag put into Royal Welsh Show. These were the figures sent through:

Lease Costs for the Food Hall – all costs include vat      

2009 £70,645.64 Food Hall Hire for RWS & Winter Fair

2010 £65,403.32 RWS

2010 £19,975.00 Winter Fair

Event Build & Management Costs all costs  include vat

2009 RWS               £155,023.30

2009 Winter Fair £61,355.38

20101 RWS            £131,968.22

2010 Winter Fair £56,078.64

 

What I did find out and rather surprised me was that Smallholder was funded, not from the food festival budget but from ‘Promoting Welsh Food’ – Budget Expenditure Line. I have no idea what this budget is supposed to be for so I asked further questions:

  1. What was the total sum in this budget for 2008/9 2009/10 and 2010/11?
  2. Who received this funding in those three years and how much was given?
  3. How is this funding allocated?  

I thought these were reasonable questions and simple to answer, but dear readers, I was wrong. The answer I received from Wag is as follows:

‘I believe that your request is likely to be very time consuming to deal with. If I estimate that it will cost more than the appropriate established in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 to consider your request, the regulations allow me to refuse to deal with it. The appropriate limit specified for central government is £600.00.  When calculating whether or not your requests exceeds the appropriate time limit, I am allowed to consider the time it is likely to take to establish if we hold the information, locate the information, retrieve the information and extract it. If these tasks are estimated to take more than 24 hours of working time, the limit will have been exceeded’.

As you might guess, I have no wish to pay £600.00 for information to what I believe are simple questions. But my fury is that money has been given out, but this Wag official would have to establish if Wag hold this information. Does anyone know why Wag shouldn’t have this financial information readily available? I’m hardly asking them to dig for records from the dim and distant past, am I?

 

My other query is why was Wag festival criteria applied to the Smallholder, when their funding was not coming out of the Food Festival Budget? Is that same criteria also applied somewhere in the ‘Promoting Welsh Food’ – Budget Expenditure Line rules? Is this how Wag can justify not funding the Smallholder this year?

 

I would sum this up as a can of worms which is proving very difficult and time-consuming to get the facts about…………….

 
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Royal Welsh Winter Fair

30 Sep

I’m getting quite a few complaints about the stand costs that the FFMDD are charging food producers this year for the Winter Fair. I’ve been told £505 + vat as against last year’s price of £405 + vat. If these figures are correct, what’s an extra £100 + vat? I’m sure if the FFMDD think at all about where the producers this extra money, it just seems they don’t care. – not their problem is it? Producers cannot reply on selling more to visitors who are more than well aware that they are struggling in the midst of a recession and have no choice but to watch their spending. Visitors will not have plenty of cash to spare and will certainly tempted to troll the Food Hall just to fill themselves and their children up with free samples, I can guarantee that! It’s not difficult to work out who’s living in a bubble, because it’s certainly not the food producers, is it?

Producers are now having to find an extra £50.00 for each day’s trading and still hope to make money, how they’ll do that is anyone’s guess. What’s the reason for this increase? It appears that FFMMD don’t feel they need to explain any decisions they make. This is getting more like a dictatorship than a dialogue with the producers.   

I think a stand at the Royal Welsh this year was £405 + vat for 4 days trading, so unless  the latest figures I have been given for the Winter Fair are wrong, I’m horrified that RWAS/FFMDD can justify such an increase to their Winter Fair stand prices.

I’ve just been on RWAS’s website and checked out prices in South Glamorgan Hall – which is for Agri Products and machinery. To take a stand there is £240.17 + vat per module, which is quite a difference from Food Hall stand prices. It appears that RWAS bows to the farmers and farming companies, but allows FFMDD to lumber the producers with an over-the-top increase in fees.

But fret not producers,Welsh Country, Best Of Welsh & Borders and welshfoodbites are here to help you and FFMDD are there to help you too!

 
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Cardigan ‘Local’ Food Festival

15 Aug

I’ve had a couple of calls in about Cardigan which ran on 6th August both muttering about having stands there from England. Apparently there were at least three of them, which brought one producer to ask me: “when is local food local?” 

Having English producers at Welsh food festivals has long been an issue, not just with me but with lots of producers too. When I’ve queried this, I’m told that as Wag funding is European, festivals cannot be restricted to Welsh producers only. You’ll see this very clearly if you attend the larger events such as Abergavenny and Cardiff. If this is the case my concerns are also with visitors. If they are foodies and are on holiday in Wales and they go to what they perceive as a Welsh Food Festival, I think they would expect to see just Welsh producers there, wouldn’t you? Actually I wonder if this was a question asked in last year’s food survey – have you travelled here looking for Welsh food or doesn’t it matter to you?

I’m not sure how many of our Welsh producers can afford the time and money to attend English food festivals, or for that matter if Westminster funds the English festivals as Wales does. Maybe that is a matter that needs looking at further. I do understand though that at a fairly small festival like Cardigan, producers keen to try and earn a living, that travelling from England appears to make this festival worthwhile.

At the Royal Welsh Show in July a Wag official told me that many food producers were doing well……………………….and although I suggested that a trip around the food hall might give a different view, I’m sure that my idea wasn’t taken up! From my chats with producers that are running various sizes of businesses, life on the circuit, whether it is festivals or farmers’ markets they are attending, trade is the toughest it has been for many, many years with many producers finding these avenues to market are no longer profitable. I’m not sure how you get festival, market organisers and Wag to take on board the difficult trading climate and re-look at how these markets are actually working. We need to find ways to improve these markets, ways to get some organisers to up their game and to give the producers the boost they desperately need. Improved promotion and marketing must be near the top of this ‘action list’.   

Having said that, I’m fed-up of attending both festivals and markets and talking to some ‘new’ producers that haven’t business cards or literature, no banners on their stand and seem to spend hours sat down, arms folded and looking totally bored!!!! I know it isn’t just me that wants to know more about new producers on the scene, but if I’d been from a major food chain or just a potential customer wanting mail order, I would not have been impressed by some of them.           

Sorry not to have visited Cardigan, but I was booked elsewhere. But it was very much a non-Welsh food weekend for me for a change and Katherine Jenkins was brilliant!!!  

 

 
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Food Hall At Royal Welsh

12 Jul

I have just received a press release from the Welsh Government showing which food producers are going to be in Food Hall this year. Fifty producers are listed, but of these only 26 appear to be True Taste winners. True Taste winners is he Welsh Government’s top selection criteria, followed by products must be made in Wales and raw materials are primary agricultural produce.

The press release doesn’t say that the Welsh Government is disappointed that they’ve only attracted 26 True Taste winners, but I think if I was them I would be. True Taste (TT) is being pushed and promoted by Wag as their ‘brand’. They have invested or wasted, depending on your view of course, oodles and oodles of cash on their ‘brand’. But it’s puzzling as to why Wag can’t fill the Food Hall with TT winners, for what many view as the highlight of the Welsh year – The Royal Welsh Show.

Is the high cost of the RWAS that’s the main reason? Or is something else going on that I don’t know about? If you can shed any light on this please let me know.

 
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Food At The Royal Welsh

06 Jul

Wales’ agricultural show is nearly upon us and hopefully the weather will be kinder than it has been over the last few years. Welsh Country’s focus of course will be mainly on food with two areas for us to cover, the Food Hall, which is run through the Welsh Government and the Farmers Market In Wales area, under the direction of Steve Shearman.

The producers that are in the Food Hall will be counting on lots of people through obviously, but also that the layout that will allow visitors the chance to browse and purchase at their leisure. Last year’s layout simply didn’t work and the crowds were so huge that is was verging on dangerous as people in wheelchairs and those with buggies were literally carried along with the flow, but struggled to even see the stands properly,let alone purchase. I hope lessons have been learnt by the organisers and that they realise how important this event is to our producers. Stand prices are very expensive in the Food Hall and a producer told me at the weekend that after paying in full, they’d be pestered for additional payments for electric, so unsure what had gone wrong there. But what I did find disappointing is that traders are charged £48.00 per night to park their caravans. It’s some time since I was in a caravan doing a tradestand, but usually we got it free or at the most a minimal charge. I haven’t a clue what today’s standard rate is for a caravan pitch but around £6.00 – £10.00 per night was the norm. In some ways I can understand private accommodation providers trying to make the most money possible during the RAWS week, but what I find upsetting is that this is caravan charge is being made by the RWAS. If RWAS are able to charge visitors £48.00 a night, fair enough, I understand that they have to make money. But what I don’t like is it feels like RWAS attitude is if you want to be here that’s what you must pay, take it our leave it. But I do think it would be a great gesture if RWAS would look again at traders’ caravan charges and make them more reasonable. The trader I was speaking to is paying out over £1,000 for a stand in the Food Hall, excluding samples, so I can only hope that this year the Food Hall does work well and the producers have a busy and profitable show – they certainly need it.

Head for Stand A42 to find the Farmers’ Markets in Wales Catering Concession, I’m really looking forward to seeing how this area looks and works. The market always has a great vibe about it. There’s nothing better than seeing families declining the vast array of fast-food that’s always on offer and enjoying good local food and drink with lots of taste and flavour – coming literally from Welsh forks in the ground to the fork on your plate at the Royal Welsh Show. It will be the ultimate fork to fork experience.

 
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Has Newport Found A Loophole To Get Festival Funding?

21 Jun

This year Newport are running a food festival for what I understand is the first time and are receiving financial support of £15,171k  from Wag. As Newport have asked for more than £10k, that means they’ve had to supply Wag with a business plan for the event, but with the Council’s financial department to hand, this is not proved a deterrent to Newport as it has to other festivals. Newport takes place on 28/29th October, partly clashing with Cowbridge, with Newport having the advantage of free entry on both days apart from having some ticketed activity.     

I’ve been onto Newport Food Festival website today, which is actually Newport City Council website.  Then I got rather confused as to whether this festival is a stand alone event or not. It appears to be running through the tail end of Newport Festival which is launched on 24th July. Our office has rung Newport Council and been told it’s part of the Newport Festival, but under Wag’s 2011 criteria, ‘food activity must be the core’. Well as we;ve been  told it’s part of the Newport Festival, how can food be the core activity?  Another interesting fact to throw into this mix is that the Newport Food Festival website url is owned by Miller Research. Regular readers will be aware that Miller Research from Abergavenny were asked by Wag to do an analysis of all the food festivals they funded last year……………..   

Regular readers will also know how angry I am that Smallholder was thrust into turmoil when Wag refused to fund them this year. Bearing in mind that the Smallholder was originally run by Wag themselves. No funding caused huge problems for everyone, plus gave no alternative but to have increased tradestand prices, just because Wag stuck to their criteria – well in this instance they did. The Royal Welsh and the Winter Fair will not have this problem as both these events are conveniently funded by Wag out of a different Wag budget!!

I have never had so many calls and emails about matters festival related as I have this year. Plus I have no idea at all why Wag needs to make life in the food sector more complicated that it is. When Wag have their usual Food Festival Organisers meeting in February, why couldn’t all these issues have been sorted out there and then? Why am I now in a situation where I’m being asked questions that I have no answers for? If I give people what should be the ‘easy’ solution of ringing Wag and talking to Jon Parker, who I think is still responsible for food festivals, for some reason that never appears to be a favourable option, I wonder why…………………………….

If you have any more news or insights into this situation, then please help me out and let me know. I just don’t understand how this can have happened.

 
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Food Festivals Get Into Full Swing

15 Jun

We’re now in the midst of the busiest time in the WAG food festival supported calendar. But sadly the discord behind the scenes continues. I’ve already posted on the demise of Llanwrtyd Wells, Smallholder and Aberystwyth. Llanwrtyd couldn’t have it’s funding confirmed and as it’s an April festival, they decided not to run this year. Smallholder lost it’s funding because being at the Royal Welsh Showground, food was not the core activity.  Aberystwyth has lost funding for its Xmas Fair, although they are appealing Wag’s decision. News has also come through to me that Frenni in Crymch has fallen foul of the Wag’s ‘no craft stall rule’ so they are not running this year, whilst other festivals have been told, no craft or no funding.

Wag state that all food events they support ‘must have food as the core.’ Festivals with less than 20 producers exhibiting are not eligible for support. If the festival fails to attract 20 producers, funding may be reduced or withdrawn. Even if there are twenty food producers the number of other exhibitors e.g. craft, community will be taken into account when assessing an application’.

A review team considers each application but I have no idea who the review team consists of. Then a panel drawn from the Food Drink Advisory Partnership will make the final decision. 

Apparently the ‘no craft – no funding’ has come from the review of all the festivals Wag funded last year that was undertaken by Miller Research from Abergavenny. I have noted the comments made by some on welshfoodbites relating to the fact that Abergavenny’s funding remains the same as last year, so no cuts or reduction there, despite the fact that Wag’s objective was that food festivals should aim to be self-funding. Wag will consider ‘size of financial contribution from other (non-WAG) partners and direct contributions from festival resources’. Your guess will be as good as mine as to what this means in the world of Wag! I asked for a copy of Miller Research report in March, but have yet to receive it, I’m told it will arrive soon.  Which is rather strange as I’ve spoken to quite a few organisers who had their individual reports months ago. I’m sure it will make interesting reading, whether I’ll agree with the content remains to be seen………………………………..  

It’s very disappointing that this year Wag are only able to support 31 festivals instead of 56 festivals, as last year. Of course we are all aware that budgets have been slashed, but the question is now, has Wag made best use of the funding they have received? Is it better to keep supporting to the same level our 3 biggest festivals, namely, Abergavenny, Cardiff and Conwy, to the tune of £130,900, at the expense of many of our smaller events?    

Taken from a Wag Press Release:

The 31 festivals – large and small – feature a wide range of products and are an important showcase for producers and Welsh produce among who are many Wales the True Taste Food and Drink Awards winners. Said Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales, “I am delighted the Welsh Assembly Government has been able to continue to support food and drink festivals across Wales. During 2011/12 the festivals will collectively receive £368,521.36 in assistance, signifying their importance to the economy and Wales’ reputation as a producer of high quality and diverse food and drink.

Another concern is that I don’t know which Wag person/s are visiting all their supported festivals this year - does anyone know? But I’m not impressed seeing Wag officials scurrying around an event 30 mins after it’s opened and hardly talking to anyone. I just can’t see the point. How can you get a true impression of an event with that time-scale and attitude? Visits must be made later in the day, or on the 2nd day of a two-day festival, they must talk to stall holders, organisers, vistors and volunteers too. That’s how to get feedback, but maybe producers wouldn’t be honest with Wag. That could be a problem. But it’s so important that each festival is still visited by someone and feedback given, if not how are these events going to improve and grow? The most important and relevant point is how do we know that value for money is being achieved?

 
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