Open Air Business August/September 2018

EVENTS
What challenges have you faced?
The weather! The weather is our
biggest annual challenge. We’ve
had blistering heat, torrential rain,
high winds and gloriously dry, not
too sunny i.e. perfect conditions.
We’re very lucky that we have a
very hardy and loyal customer
base, so the weather doesn’t seem
to put people off, but dry years are
considerably easier to manage,
much safer for everyone involved
and the damage to the ground is
minimal.
We work closely with the town
council and, in wet years, have the
park rolled and re-seeded after the
event. Mill Marsh Park is incredibly
resilient and drains very well so it
bounces back quickly. Dry years are
the best!
Like with all small towns,
not everyone appreciates any
disruption or change to their
routine. The Craft Festival has
become sufficiently large that it
can’t be ignored for a few days a
year. The vast majority of residents
appreciate what we are trying to
do but we can’t please everyone.
I have the greatest respect for the
fact that the event does impact
the town and we respond to all
feedback. We also give discounts to
locals through a voucher scheme
in our local advertiser and give free
tickets to residents who are directly
inconvenienced by the event.
The obvious money worries in the
early years were very challenging,
but general guts and determination
got us through. The company has
expanded very slowly but we now
organise four events and employ
four people.
ADDRESS BOOK
wanted to be free of major funding
as soon as possible.
It took around seven years to be
in a stable position where there
was high demand from visitors and
exhibitors. Now, we usually make a
small surplus each year, and as we
are non-profit, we give a proportion
of our surplus to local charities and
anything else goes back into the pot
to make the event better next year.
What are your plans for 2019?
We want to do more in Bovey
Tracey throughout the year and we
are developing more experiential
activities for children and adults to
enjoy at the festival. While the key
element of the festival is selling craft
to an appreciative audience, handson
experiences are a growth area in
festivals. We already do a lot, but we
want to do more.
What other outdoor events do
you run?
Made by Hand Cardiff, Made by Hand
Cheltenham, and Nourish Festival - a
food event also in Bovey Tracey.
What advice could you give
to someone coming into the
industry?
Working in partnership has been
an important part of growing our
business. Building relationships
is so important, so go to trade
events and meet as many people as
possible.
Be friendly and help people
along the way. I meet and greet
every stand holder at my events,
it may only be a quick handshake
if they are busy but for some it is a
daunting experience and a friendly
hello goes such a long way. Not
many organisers do this and it takes
most of the weekend to say hello
to everyone once! But it’s built an
incredible amount of loyalty and
made The Craft Festival one of the
most-loved and best craft events
in the UK, with sales that outstrip
events in London.
How have you financed the event
and how profitable is it?
We are a non-profit making
company and we raise funds by
selling stands and tickets to the
event.
In the early years we relied on
funding; for the first three years
from LEADER Plus which was
also supplemented by additional
funding from Arts Council of
England, Dartmoor National Park,
Ernest Cook Trust and Devon
Foundation. In the last eight
years we have worked more in
partnership with organisations
to help run the event and we rely
on less than 4% of turnover on
sponsorship and funding. We
MARQUEES
Devon Marquees
www.devonmarquee.co.uk
YURTS & TIPIS
Yurts for Life
www.yurtsforlife.com
World Inspired Tents
www.worldinspiredtents.co.uk
SHELL SCHEME
Intershell
www.theintershellgroup.co.uk
FURNITURE
Western Event Hire
www.westerneventhire.co.uk
DECOR
The Prop Factory
www.propfactory.co.uk
LIGHTING
Start Lighting 01841 541441
PA
Showbitz
www.showbitz.co.uk
RADIOS
PAS Communication
www.pas-communications.co.uk
HERAS FENCING
FS Fencing www.tfsfencing.com
HEAT & POWER
Aggreko www.aggreko.com
MEDICAL SERVICES
EMS Medical www.devonems.org
BARS & CATERING
Lemon Jelli Events
www.lemonjellievents.co.uk
FLOORING
Devon Marquees
www.devonmarquee.co.uk
GROUND PROTECTION
Marwood Group
www.marwoodgroup.co.uk
WC FACILITIES
Event Hire Solutions
www.eventhiresolutions.co.uk
TICKETING
TicketSource
www.ticketsource.co.uk
VISITOR MANAGEMENT
3D Security www.3dsecurity.org.uk
INSURANCE
WPS Insurance
www.wpsinsurance.co.uk
DETAILS
The Contemporary Craft Festival
7-9 June 2019
Mill Marsh Park
Bovey Tracey, Devon
www.craftsatboveytracey.co.uk
68 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM