HARPENDEN TOWN COUNCIL
NON CONFIDENTIAL
COMMITTEE:
POLICY AND FINANCE
DATE:
5 MARCH 2014
REPORT BY:
TOWN CLERK
SUBJECT:
FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL
1.
Summary
1.1
The District Council are refocusing on the Food and Drink Festival which has taken
place in the district over the last 5 years. Last year, because of changes that were
included in the award system a number of establishments withdrew from the
Festival. In order to address this issue and in an effort to make the Festival more
inclusive a workshop meeting was arranged inviting all key stakeholders and at the
same time inviting new members onto the Steering Group. The draft minutes of
the meeting held on the 11 February 2014 and the Awards Categories are
attached to this report.
1.2
One of the primary decisions taken by the Steering Group at its meeting following
the workshop was to agree that the Food and Drink Festival included all
establishments in the district.
1.3
As a means of achieving this objective it is proposed to launch the Food Festival at
Harpenden Farmers Market on Sunday 28 September 2014.
2.
Recommendations
2.1
It is recommended that:
2.1.1 the Farmers Market on the 28 September 2014 be used to launch the Food
Festival and celebrate the St Albans District Food and Drink Festival.
2.1.2 funding of £3,000 be allocated from the 2014/15 new initiatives earmarked
reserves in order to promote and support activities associated with the launch of
the Festival.
3.
Background
3.1
The Food and Drink Festival organised by St Albans District Council has been
running for 5 years. In order to refresh and rejuvenate local interest in the Festival
the Steering Group held a workshop in St Albans to discuss initiatives and
promotional ideas.
3.2
One of the concerns expressed at the workshop was whether the event was
focused too intently on the City, rather than the District. It is interesting to note that
the winner of last year’s event was `That Little Place’ in Station Road, Harpenden.
However, the greater focus of events associated with the Festival primarily took
place in the City. This included a charity gourmet night and a Festival Street
Event. At the recent Steering Group meeting it was agreed that ways in which
other parts of the district could be engaged should be explored. It was suggested
that the Farmers Market in Harpenden, which coincided with the Festival week,
could be used to launch the Food element of the Festival, the drink element being
launched at the St Albans Beer Festival on the previous Thursday.
3.3
It is suggested that this is an opportunity for local food businesses to promote
themselves, raise awareness of their business and highlight the diversity of
establishments in and around the town.
3.4
By hosting the launch of the Food Festival at the Harpenden Farmers Market there
is the opportunity to raise the profile of the market, add innovation and enterprise
to the occasion and seek to make the market more interesting. It may require
additional road closures and stalls being brought in for the event. Staging may be
necessary in order to provide a focus for the some of the activities that might be
organised. The launch has the potential for Harpenden to open its doors for
business.
4
Financial implications
4.1
No budget has been provided for enhancing the Farmers Market for an event
associated with the Food and Drink Festival. St Albans District Council has a
modest budget for the promotion and advertising of the Festival and it is
anticipated that a small amount of this funding might be directed to Harpenden
Town Council to assist with the organisation of this event. There may also be the
opportunity to attract some sponsorship.
4.2
At this time Officers do not have a clear idea on the potential cost of promoting,
publicising and expanding the market for this occasion. It is therefore suggested
that Members consider allocating a sum of £3,000 from the new initiatives
earmarked reserve to help cover some of the potential costs associated with the
promotion and generating interest in the Farmers Market and Food and Drink
Festival launch.
Draft Minutes
Food and Drink Festival Steering Group
Tuesday 11 February 2014
St Michael’s Manor
Attendees:
Jo Howlett (JH) – St Albans City and District Council
Councillor Julian Daly (JD) – St Albans City and District Council
Becky Alexander (BA) – Food Writer, Herts Advertiser
Matt Adams (MA) – Editor, Herts Advertiser
Richard Marrett (RM) – St Michael’s Manor
Oliver Zissmann (OZ) – Dixie’s Cupcakery
John Bagshaw (JB) – Harpenden Town Council
Julia Jenkins (JJ) – Flagship Wines
Iain Loe (IL) – CAMRA
Apologies:
Carl Cheevers (CC) – St Albans City and District Council (Chair)
Philip Kenchington (PK) – allaboutstalbans.com
MINUTES
WHO?
1 Festival Format 2014
Dates:
24 – 27 September
Beer Festival
28 September
Harpenden Farmers Market/Food Festival
29 September
Charity Gourmet Night at Poggenpohl
29 September – 5 October Fringe Events taking place in venues
5 October
Festival Finale/Street Event
6 October
Food and Drink Awards Night
Harpenden Farmers Market/Food Festival
This date is already in the diary for the Farmers Market and Harpenden
could develop something to link in with this to launch the district’s Food
and Drink Festival 2014. JB to investigate what could happen. Information
needs to be sent to businesses in Harpenden that specifically targets them
and encourages them to be involved. JB can support with this
engagement.
Charity Gourmet Night at Poggenpohl
To take place on the Monday 29 September the weekend as this
traditionally is the best day for the restaurants to come out and cook. In the
past the restaurants have been picked as those that have appeared within
the Good Food Guide. Action - discuss who will be involved this year at a
future meeting.
JB
Fringe events in venues
All businesses will be contacted in advance and asked to submit any
activities/events that are planning to host during the overall festival period
(28 September – 5 October). This will allow businesses to attract local
people in during the week with small events.
Finale/Street Event
Explore closing George Street and extending the finale event down to
accommodate more people to attend. Investigate the feasibility of using
the Christmas Market chalets in Vintry Gardens/the Abbey for the Festival
Finale event. Again this would support the event being larger and
encouraging more people to come. Need to think about stall allocation and
where stalls are positioned during the event. With the inclusion of George
Street and possibly the Vintry the location of stalls is increased. Need to
think about a sliding scale of costs for pitches/stalls. This needs to be
thought about at a future meeting.
Look to engage with the Abbey and see if Abbott’s kitchen can be
involved. JH to speak to Lesli Good about an upcoming meeting with the
Abbey.
JH
JH
Information to go out to businesses informing them of what they could get
involved with and how. This would include a mission statement for the
Food and Drink Festival.
Mission statement to be produced for the Festival to be use in brochure
and for business engagement. MA to develop mission statement.
MA
2 Awards
Awards dinner to take place on Monday 6 October at St Michael’s. RM has
confirmed the date and put event in the diary.
Categories decided for 2014:
Best Bar
Best Independent Food/Drink Shop NEW!
Best Local Café
Best Newcomer NEW!
Best Local Producer
Best Pub
Best Local Restaurant
Best Takeaway NEW!
Most Family Friendly Venue
Food and Drink Champion NEW!
Kate D’Arcy
Categories that have been dropped from previous years:
Local Gem
Best Street Food
JH to circulate current award categories and descriptions.
JH
PK was going to contact Ruth from Darcy’s to see if she was still willing to
PK
judge the award or if she wanted to nominate anyone else to judge this
specific award.
Sponsorship for each award was discussed. Businesses could be provided
with the opportunity to sponsor an award. They would be able to judge the
winner with a representative from the steering group and present the
award at the Awards Evening in October. Businesses may be charged
£200 to sponsor an award.
JH to look at any businesses that have sponsored the event in the past
and any information about pricing, etc.
JH
Discussion about how nominations, shortlists and winners are to be
decided.
Thoughts for 2014 are that there will be nominations open to all during
May. Once a business has been nominated they will be sent a
questionnaire to sell themselves. The steering group will look at all those
nominated and their info provided. They will then decide the shortlist for
each category.
Beginning of July will see a launch of the Festival and voting opens for
public to vote for the short listed businesses.
The public vote will decide the top 3 for each category. Then a member of
the steering group paired up with a representative from the
company/business sponsoring the award will look at criteria for their
specific category and decide which of the top 3 the deserved winner is.
Potentially the judges will visit the venues and interview the
owner/manager to make an informed decision.
3 Marketing/Publicity and Branding
Need to think about the events that we can jump on to promote the Food
and Drink Festival from June onwards; Half Marathon, Alban Weekend,
Flower Festival at the Abbey.
All venues participating in the Food and Drink Festival will be provided with
posters and the logo to include in their own marketing for events they are
delivering.
If the new St Albans brand logo is developed in time it would be good to
use this as part of the Festival branding.
Getting volunteers or people to be in town handing out brochures to
passers by. Use event staff at events leading up to the Festival to
distribute brochures.
Investigate putting a banner up across St Peter’s Street. OZ to speak to
sign company and see if this is something they could support with/sponsor.
OZ
Investigate using lamp posts to display banners and advertise the Food
and Drink Festival. JH to investigate possibility.
JH
Information about getting to St Albans, including parking, to be included in
the brochure.
Proposed timescale for Awards:
1 May – 31 May – Nomination period open
15 June – Cut off for businesses to sell themselves
W/B 16 June – Steering group to meet and look at nominations
1 July – launch of voting for public and food and drink Festival
7 September – voting period ends for public
W/B 8 September – steering group and judges to meet to look at top 3 and
plan what next
15 – 28 September – visits to be made to venues (if necessary)
30 September - winners determined
5 Any Other Business
Sponsorship
This was touched on briefly and will be discussed further at the next
meeting.
All to go away and think about the type of businesses that could be
engaged with to sponsor different awards, the awards generally, the finale,
etc. All to bring ideas to the next meeting.
Celebrity Chefs/Book Signings
Waterstone’s often do book signings for celebrity chefs and maybe
discussions could be had to see if something could be planned for during
the Food and Drink Festival period
JH to speak to MA about any discussions had already in terms of literary
festival and if he could start discussions for something like this.
JH to speak to Ron at Brasserie Blanc and find out if there is a possibility
of Raymond coming along to something or doing an event of some sort as
part of the Food and Drink Festival.
6 Date of next meetings and proposed items for discussion
18 March – 10am
 Sponsorship
 Accessibility
 Marketing and Publicity
 Awards categories descriptions finalised
29 April – 10am
 Look at what businesses have submitted events
 Gourmet Night and Finale – who to involve
20 May – 10am
 Look at what nominations have already been received
17 June – 10am
 Look at nominations and information to decide shortlist for awards
1 July – 12noon
 Launch of the Food and Drink Festival voting period and promo
19 August – 10am
 Update on how Gourmet Night and Finale event looking
 Update on how voting is going
30 September – 10am
 Winners to be determined and informed to all
ALL
JH
JH
The Award Categories
Best Bar
This Award celebrates the variety of local bars that the District holds. Bars for the Food
and Drink Awards are described as venues that serve lagers from around the world (i.e.
Peroni, San Miguel, etc) cocktails, wines and champagnes.
Best Local Cafe
This Award celebrates the variety of local cafes that the District holds. Cafés for the Food
and Drink Awards are venues that serve breakfast, lunch and/or afternoon tea. They
serve soft drinks and hot beverages. They are generally open during the daytime and at
weekends only.
Best Local Producer
The Award celebrates those businesses that produce raw ingredients such as meat and
dairy or other products made that include raw ingredients. Examples of produce are
cheese, bread, meat products as well as locally brewed beer.
Best Local Restaurant
This Award celebrates the variety of local restaurants that the District holds. Restaurants
for the Food and Drink Awards are venues that serve good food at lunchtime and into the
evening. That provides alcoholic beverages and offers a more formal dining experience.
Best Pub
This Award celebrates the variety of local pubs that the District holds. Pubs for the Food
and Drink Awards are described as venues that serve traditional ales and are recognised
by CAMRA. They may also be well known for their menu and food that they offer,
boasting locally sourced food and comforting pub grub!
Local Gem – not included for 2014
The Award celebrates those businesses that are unique to the District. A local gem for the Food and Drink Awards are
described as businesses that are passionate about food and/or drink. These businesses include shops, home run
businesses, mobile businesses, etc. This should be a business rather than a venue so any restaurants, pubs, cafes,
bars or producers will be removed from this category and placed in one of those outlined above.
Most Family Friendly Venue
The Award celebrates the venue that is most family friendly venue in the District and
creates an experience for all generations in your family. The Most Family Friendly venue
for the Food and Drink Awards is described as a venue that goes that extra mile for
children making the experience more enjoyable for the whole family. They will
demonstrate a varied, healthy children’s menu along with child friendly beverages. They
will make the experience easier for parents and carers by ensuring there is plenty for the
children to do and the environment/facilities are well catered for little people!
Best Street Food – not included for 2014
This Award celebrates venues and businesses that trade out on the streets of the District throughout the year. Street
Food for the Food and Drink Awards includes venues that have a mobile unit or pitch out on the streets to cater as a
takeaway venue for passers by. This category also includes market traders that have a regular pitch within the weekly
market or Farmer’s Markets across the District.
Kate D’Arcy Award
This Award is a special award in memory of Kate D’Arcy, a much loved restaurateur who
died in June 2010. This Award is for a person who has exceeded normal expectation by
providing outstanding service and delivering a faultless experience.