News and reviews
In many ways the 2007 festival was the best organised yet with new features like the introduction of a single site (with no harbour in the middle), multiple ticket booths that slashed the queuing times faced by the public and definitely the best security and stewarding staff we've ever had.
The fashion shows in the At-Bristol complex were slickly sensational swirl of VJ's, DJ's and impossibly beautiful models that did justice to the fabulous organic clothes on display. Filmed by TV's the Clothes Show, these groundbreaking extravaganzas should finally bury the hoary old sackcloth and ashes clichés about the appeal of eco-friendly clothes.
Equally vibrant was this year's fringe with three entertainment stages plus much walkabout action. With so much space to fill this became the most musical of food festivals attracting artists from as far afield as Papua New Guinea and Brazil.
Special mention must go to Popina who not only decided to sponsor a stage but to programme it as well. However, apologies to those exhibitors who found their stand site just too noisy for their tastes and numerous measures will be taken to prevent that happening again next year. Free earplugs anyone?
So were we all totally happy with this smoothly run spectacular? The site was certainly a more pleasant place to walk about with all that had been previously crammed into the hot and gloomy L Shed now spread out under canvas through the large open spaces of Millennium and Anchor Squares. The answer though is no, (we'd get probably get bored quickly if the answer ever turned out to be more positive).
The problem this time was that perhaps it had all got a little too slick and dare we say, soulless? The solution we're proposing for 2008 is that we make the whole event a more interactive experience for the punter. In a move that will ensure that we're compelled to do little other than write risk assessments for six months, we want to clutter up the site with demonstrations and activities; we want to bring in the means of production exhibiting everything from cider presses to farm animals. This could allow exhibitors to make much more of a splash with some memorable individual stands and for the visitor we want to continue to blur the lines between commerce and entertainment.
The success of this depends on exhibitors and sponsors getting involved and thinking about what they may be able to bring to the party. As ever, the trick is about everyone working together so that everyone can get out of the festival what they need.
The festival has to be about companies promoting themselves and selling their products as it has to be about the Soil Association spreading the word on the organic movement and building their membership. It also has to be fun, informative and capture the imagination of the general public - without that there is no festival. We look forward to your ideas
Power & Money
Due in particular to the generosity of our sponsors, the 2007 Bristol festival ended on a sounder financial footing than it has managed in recent years. This will enable us to freeze the public's admission fee for another year. It also means that we will be able to offer a very modest increase in stand fees (still far less than comparable events) and this will be eased for many by the fact that for the first time we will be offering a 10% discount to Soil Association licensees.
Our total electrics bill came to a staggering 25K this year but only half of that amount came back from exhibitor charges. While the Soil Association will continue to subsidise electrical provision at the festival it's not really possible to sustain it at that level. In the face of this we have had a total re-think about the way we charge for a power supply in order to ensure that our pricing system much more reflects the real costs that we face. That means some people will face higher charges but we are able to offer advice on how you may be able to mitigate this.
Finally, in a rather overdue concession to the 21st century we have teamed up with a company called Ethnet UK Ltd to offer all companies satellite broadband connection and corresponding chip n' pin facilities. All details are in the booking forms.
Steve Symons
Festival Production Manager
October 2007