Open Air Business August/September 2018

More documents

Info

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
ASSET FINANCE AND LOANS From marquees to event structures, mobile catering to staging equipment, we have a range of outdoor and event financing solutions to help you invest in the equipment you need and protect your working capital. TRAKWAY.BARRIERS.BRIDGES.LIGHTS 01420 481 500 bluestarleasing.com/events-finance Bluestar Leasing is a trading name of Blue Star <strong>Business</strong> Solutions Limited which is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. www.livetrakway.com The UK’s only mobile Th il i S hire-themed glamping pod s e Now bringing comfort and warmth to outdoor events, these cosy cabins have been designed to travel, making them the UK’s only mobile Shire-themed glamping pods, perfect for festivals (as seen at Shambala), campsites, weddings and more. 07805 539122/ 07846 282404 www.theshirehuts.com WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM 69
Page 1 and 2:
ISSUE 21 | August / September 2018
Page 3 and 4:
ISSUE 21 | August /September 2018 |
Page 5 and 6:
Holiday Park Moves into Glamping TH
Page 7 and 8:
PRODUCT United Nations Project Paki
Page 9 and 10:
CampPlus Merges with Finkota CAMPPL
Page 11 and 12:
Glampsite Specific Booking System S
Page 13 and 14:
INDUSTRY NEWS Festival & Outdoor Ev
Page 16 and 17:
NEW TO THE UK Come and meet us at t
Page 18 and 19: INDUSTRY NEWS The Showman’s Show
Page 20 and 21: Avoid a messy situation with Metro
Page 22 and 23: FUNCTION VENUES caterers that we ha
Page 24 and 25: FUNCTION VENUES asking questions to
Page 26 and 27: 7 & 8 NOV 2018 NEC BIRMINGHAM COUNT
Page 28 and 29: FUNCTION VENUES 3 Refresh your visu
Page 30 and 31: Silent Power for every event and of
Page 32 and 33: FUNCTION VENUES Getting to the buye
Page 34 and 35: FUNCTION VENUES PRODUCT IN FOCUS Fl
Page 37 and 38: GLAMPSITES CASE STUDY Atlantic Surf
Page 39 and 40: GLAMPSITES We chose to make our own
Page 41 and 42: WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM 41
Page 43 and 44: GLAMPSITES OUT & ABOUT with Kate Mo
Page 45 and 46: ZERO MAINTENANCE WHY CHOOSE OUR CAM
Page 47 and 48: GLAMPSITES TreeHOUSES Real life exa
Page 49 and 50: Creative Partners Alternative Build
Page 51 and 52: GLAMPSITES GETTY IMAGES DIY PR How
Page 53: nick@wild-hart.co.uk www.wild-hart.
Page 56 and 57: Timbertipi a natural choice to inve
Page 58 and 59: 95 Watermill Description: 95 Waterm
Page 60 and 61: GLAMPSITES The West Field Glamping
Page 62 and 63: TRADITION SINCE 1896 WE MANUFACTURE
Page 64 and 65: Carefully designed 100% cotton canv
Page 66 and 67: EVENTS How does the relationship wo
Page 70 and 71: EVENTS CSR Strategy In the final pa
Page 72 and 73: EVENTS GETTY IMAGES Event Sponsorsh
Page 74 and 75: EVENTS Getting it Right Manage your
Page 76 and 77: Sandown Park 26 - 27 September 2018
Page 78 and 79: Spot light A roundup of products fo
Page 80 and 81: Classified Directory BARKER Marquee
Page 82 and 83: DAY IN THE LIFE 24 Hours with… Le
show all

Open Air Business August/September 2018

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?