Food Festival Evaluation Report 2011

Miller Research (UK) Ltd, in association with Howel Food Consultancy and Reap and Sow Ltd, was engaged by the Welsh Government to undertake a two-year evaluation of food festivals supported by the Welsh Government.

Specifically, the work focused on evaluating the implementation and impact of the Food Festivals Grant Scheme, a fund supported during the period by the Supply Chain Efficiency Scheme, itself a project within Axis 1 of the Rural Development Plan for Wales.

The evaluation involved extensive fieldwork across Wales, including a visit to each of 49 funded festivals, visitor surveys at every event, an online survey of food producers on the Welsh Government database and interviews with festival management bodies for each event.

The project specification called for an evaluation on a number of different levels, including the contribution the programme has made towards:

• developing improved supply chains;
• the impact of the programme in raising the profile of local food; and
• the impact of the programme on sustainable development.

Key findings of the report include:

• Our estimate is that approximately 350,000 individuals attended food festivals across the year, accounting for some 700,000 over the period of the grant.
• £23.5m sales generated. We are confident of an average individual spend per head at festivals in the region of £20. This would equate to some £7m in direct spend, with additional spend in host communities estimated to be up to £42m over two years.
• This then implies additional sales directly relating to festivals in the region of almost £50m over a two year period.
• Approximately 500 producers attended festivals in 2010-2011 supported through the Grant.
• Producers attending food festivals reported an average of 32% of their annual sales occurring as a result of having attended festivals.
• Estimates show that approximately 2,420 additional jobs were created by producers attending festivals in 2010-11.

To read the full report, please download the document below. The full report is available in English only.