Yesterday I was at the Tideswell Food Festival.
The Food Festival attracted plenty of people to this small village.
Some UK readers may remember Tideswell, it was one of six villages selected last year for a TV series”Village SOS” which looked at six small rural communities that were trying to change their fortunes and combat the national picture of rural decline. In Tideswell they decided that capitalising on local food and food producers was the solution.
Tideswell is in the heart of the Peak District National Park, which attracts over 26 million visitors each year. Persuading some of that vast number of visitors to spend more time and money in their village looked like a great opportunity. They launched “Taste Tideswell”, a well designed and well written campaign. Effectively they branded the village.
A clear message, well written and well designed.
Simple language, a conversational tone, directed to visitors.
A clear, and appetising, ‘call to action’.
A disused shop was converted into the wonderful Tideswell School of Food. (I am a huge fan – their courses are amazing. )
Great course, suitable for you and seasoned with a feel good factor. Another spot-on motivating message.
It does what it says on the tin.
Now, a year on , the Second Tideswell Food Festival. The village is full of people, selling food, tasting food, talking about food, eating food and most of all buying food in a fantastically convivial atmosphere.
Customers promote successful products. This guy was producing a video with commentary in French. He’ll be sharing a ‘Taste of Tideswell’.
‘Tucking in’ in Tidewell.
This community appears to have heart and soul, commitment, the ability to work together and to press for a shared vision – combined with professionalism and high quality communication skills. Yesterday at least it that this was a winning combination. A lovely day.
Is this a recipe for success for Tideswell and other rural communities?
Thanks for a great write up of the Tideswell Food Festival. It’s nice to get the perspective of someone who visited – most of us involved in organising or volunteering on the day were too close to the event to appreciate just how successful it was! When we had the crazy idea of the Food Festival last year, we had just 6 weeks to organise it. We also had the power of a BBC film crew behind us, which undoubtedly drew lots of stall holders and visitors to the event. This year we were standing on our own two feet – so imagine how astonished we were when we ended up with double the number of stalls and (a complete guestimate) double the number of visitors.
All the food retailers and producers in the village benefitted from the day – which was the ultimate aim. And the community-owned Tideswell School of Food raised awareness of it’s community and education programme – as well as the fab cookery courses it runs.
The village felt mightly quiet today. All the bunting was being taken down, and the streets had been swept clean and tidy after yesterday’s festivities. But hopefully the memory of the event will last for a long time with all those who visited….and they’ll appreciate the importance of local food to their community, as well as to ours.
Hi Carrie,
It was great to be part of the bustle, rather than on your side of the fence (I have been there a time or two!). We did lots of people watching and listening and came away with the clear impression you had a success on your hands. Which this year, as you say, the village can take sole credit for. So well done.
I forgot to say in my post that I felt it incumbent upon me to taste everything I could lay my hands on and it was all deliocious.
I came away believing in the power of community – and that felt sustaining too.
I am looking forward to 2013 already – I guess the organisers may need to wait a week or two before they get to that stage!
A very big thank you to Philip walker for organising the 20012..Food festival.
contacting stall holders ,finding new entrants,organising events inc entertainment,plus closing streets..to hold a bigger and better event..
Great write up Susan – shame I missed you during the day but the good thing was that I missed lots of people I knew during the day which just goes to prove how many people there were.
The success of the event just goes to show how a community can pull together and create a force for good. So for next time, more stalls, more events, more volunteers and mire visitors… bring it on.
Hi Pete, don’t worry, we can catch up some other time. That would be great. I would love to hear your reflections on Tideswell’s success across the board not just at this event. I think there’s lot here that other communities can learn from. I also suspect there’s quite a lot under the tip of the four-word iceberg ‘community can pull together’.
I shall be back at the School of Food in a couple of months – boiling bones this time. Maybe we can have a pint and a chat then. I’ll be in touch.
Pingback: Tideswell Food Festival, 2012 – a fantastic success : Taste Tideswell
Well done Phil Walker you pulled it off what a fantastic day you deserve a pat on the back. Here’s to next year.