07/02/2008 by admin.

It was supposed to be an event that brought the community together. But when the Emsworth Food Festival ended up causing bitter division, chairman Lulu Bowerman knew something had to be done.
Committee members had been abused in the street, shopkeepers were threatened that customers would take their business elsewhere if they supported the festival and a petition was circulated.
So she and fellow festival organisers acted and axed the popular event for this year, while suggesting that when it returns in 2009, the festival may well be scaled down.
Lulu, 49, says: ‘It was started with the best of intentions, but it became so difficult to keep the status quo last year that we have had to take a step back.
‘You want to please the community and not have everybody fighting. But there have been people going in shops and saying “if you support the food festival, then we won’t shop here any more”. It is best to let the dust settle.’
She adds: ‘Cancelling it was a very bitter pill to swallow. It was a very difficult decision to make but common sense had to prevail. The brain had to rule the emotions.
‘I remember one of the protesters asked what gave us the right as an unelected body to impose our will on the community. That stuck in my mind.’
The problem has been the sheer size of the festival. From just a handful of stalls at the first festival back in 2001, it quickly grew to attract more than 130 stalls and 55,000 visitors over three days each year.It seemed that the town had discovered the recipe for success. But it got so big that the centre had to be effectively closed for four days, with large numbers squeezing into narrow streets and traffic restrictions imposed by police and Havant Borough Council meaning some residents couldn’t use their cars.
By 2007 the festival was bigger than ever and the goodwill and co-operation of some people living and working in Emsworth was beginning to wear thin.
The news that there is no festival in 2008 has pleased traders who had grown fed up with the disruption. In their eyes, an event that was originally set up to help support local businesses was putting people off shopping there.
Evelyn Pearce, of Emsworth Delicatessen in West Street, says: ‘I’m very pleased there isn’t going to be a festival this year. We do less business over the festival weekend than any other weekend in the year. If there had been a festival this year, I was going to close the shop on the Saturday because it would just not be cost-effective to stay open.’
She adds: ‘It was fantastic when it started, but it has just got out of hand. Now people come here for the freebies, not to see what shops Emsworth has got.’Carli Strugnell, 20, of Citrus Flowers in The Square, explains: ‘It has got too big and affects local businesses. All the visitors are coming for the festival and are not interested in anything else. We lose quite a lot of money compared to a normal weekend and a lot of other shops are saying the same thing.
‘The food festival used to be small and each shop would have a stall. But now it is absolutely massive and stalls are coming in from other areas and blocking off the shops behind. So many people have complained about things that something had to be done.’Michael Starr, 63, of Starr Butchers in High Street, says: ‘It was definitely better when it was a smaller event. The first three or four years were brilliant, but it has lost that personal feeling. It’s just become too big and got out of hand.
‘Local people who get their meat from me don’t come in when the festival’s on. If I didn’t have my barbecue going outside, I might as well shut up shop. Other shopkeepers are the same. Visitors come here to walk around, go in the wine tent and get free tasters from the stalls; they don’t come in the local shops. The only ones earning a crust from it are the pubs.’
Some residents are also pleased to see the festival taking a breather. Emsworth Residents’ Association chairman Chris Curry adds: ‘There are quite a few people who were very inconvenienced by the festival, particularly those who live in roads that were shut off from 9am-5pm for three days.
‘They got really uptight about it and created a bit of a furore. I know it also affected shops and businesses.’
But others who wanted to keep the festival angrily claim it has fallen victim to a small but vociferous minority of whingers. Comments posted on the Emsworth Food Festival website are powerful and emotive – using words such as ‘devastated’, ‘dismayed’ and ‘outraged’ to describe their feelings about the event being cancelled.
Lulu, who was voted Business Personality of the Year at The News Business Excellence Awards last month for her work organising the food festival, explains: ‘The festival was started to help local businesses survive and flourish, but it had become a juggling act to keep everybody happy.
‘When a growing minority of people say they are not sure they want the festival any more, then you have to take that on board.’
But she says the festival will come back in 2009 – although its exact form has yet to be decided.
‘If people want it back, then it will come back. I’m not a dictator. Getting smaller is an option. The feedback so far has been that people want it to be a very local event and relevant to Emsworth.
‘They want it to celebrate shops in Emsworth and businesses in a 10-20 mile radius. People love it as a street market with atmosphere, entertainment and fireworks.’
Another option is to make it a cultural festival, not just about food. Lulu says: ‘We have other culture in Emsworth. For instance there are very good artists here.’Lulu says organisers will talk to people on both sides of the debate and take on board their opinions so nobody
feels alienated.
Festival directors met last week and now intend to visit other food festivals to see how they are run.
Meanwhile festival projects will continue in schools and colleges and several young chefs competitions will still take place. Local charities and initiatives will also benefit from money raised by the 2007 festival.
Lulu thinks it likely the Emsworth festival will continue in a smaller form in the future, perhaps without elements such as the competitions, demonstrations, wine tastings, marquees, classes and celebrity chefs.
Residents’ association chairman Chris Curry believes that would win a lot of support. He says: ‘We would like to see a smaller, good quality event kept in the town.’
As for Michael Starr, he also thinks that smaller would definitely be better.
‘Emsworth’s a lovely little place and ideal for a food festival, but it has to be smaller in future.’

The News 5th February 2008
 

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28/01/2008 by admin.

A woman who helped organise the most successful food festival in the area has been honoured in The News Business Excellence Awards.The efforts of Lulu Bowerman in organising the Emsworth Food Festival and galvanising a group of volunteers to create an event that celebrates local produce have won her the title of Business Personality of the Year. She was cheered as she walked up to the stage to accept her award from Robin Dickens, of award sponsor Lambert Smith Hampton. A clearly stunned Mrs Bowerman said: ‘I didn’t think I would get this. ‘It’s great getting this award, but the festival wouldn’t have happened without my team of volunteers. ‘It’s for all the volunteers that I’m accepting this award - I’m accepting this on behalf of the committee.
‘We were up against a few obstacles this year but we came through it.’
These obstacles mean the festival will be smaller in future years. Ms Bowerman was one of many happy trophy winners whose successful companies and enterprises we  celebrated within the area’s business community.
The event, which was held at Portsmouth Guildhall, is the highlight of the year for the business community. It involved nearly 550 guests - made up of mayors, company leaders and representatives of leading business organisations who were there to network and more importantly to find out who had won awards in one of the eight categories. They heard from guest speaker and England Football legend Sir Geoff Hurst - still the only person to have scored a hat trick in a World Cup final - while BBC presenter Sally Taylor compered the evening. The event, which is sponsored by Business Link, is now into its sixth year.
Chairman of the board of Business Link in Hampshire and the  Isle of Wight, Phil Wilding, said: ‘I think these awards are very important - good people in business strive to be the best and I believe we should recognise that.’

The News 25 January 2008

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27/01/2008 by admin.

Purchase high quality aerial photos of Emsworth taken during the Food Festival in 2007 details at:
www.emsworthfoodfestival.co.uk/merchandise.htm

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23/01/2008 by admin.

THE Emsworth Food Festival has received another blow with the news the event could be scaled down in 2009.Residents and traders have been torn over the impact it has on the town 50,000 people visit over three days in September.An intense debate led to this year’s festival being cancelled last month, but chairman of the festival committee Lulu Bowerman has said next year’s event could be cut back to the stalls and fireworks.She said: “If that is what they want, that is easy to deliver. People want their fiesta, which is how they describe it.”Ms Bowerman said a lack of interest had been shown in the demonstrations, wine tasting marquees, and celebrity chefs.“I was stunned,” she said. “It is really strange not to have people talking about the other bits we worked so hard to run, but that does not seem to be what they want.“We cannot just steamroller people into having it. It was becoming really divisive in the community.“It was a very difficult decision to do it. It was a very emotional moment for me. You give your heart and soul to it, but sometimes you just have to be grown-up and responsible.”Manager of the newsagents in  St Peter’s Square Kharran Piper fears the event could be over-run by disappointed people if it is downscaled. She said: “I hope they do not come a bit of a cropper with millions of people turning up and it is not what they expect it to be - it would be a disaster.”People coming from far and wide are going to expect it to be what it always has been.”“I think people have got over the fact there is not going to be a festival. Most people have accepted it.“It is all a bit of a shame, really. Obviously they are all volunteers and it is a     huge amount of work.” It’s so good for tradersMANAGER of Emsworth Hardware Dave Wagg is in support of the festival and does not understand how it cannot be good for trade.He said: “I think it will struggle to come back smaller because there will always be that number of people attending. “It is pretty crowded anyway, If you decrease the number of stalls it will be bedlam.”Ros Oakley of the Pantry Weigh said:
“The risk is you have a lot of people turning up and there is not a lot to see and it falls flat on its face.“From a stall holder’s point of view, on Friday and Saturday people seem to be happier, more relaxed. By Sunday people have been jostling for space everywhere and they are not so happy” 

Ems Valley Gazette Jan 2008

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16/01/2008 by admin.

The New Year is not just for personal reflection – it’salso well timed for review and restructure. This could not be more true for the Emsworth Food Festival.

Early December, the directors decided to postpone theevent until 2009, recognising that whilst it was the mostsuccessful year yet, it also had the greatest impact on peopleliving and working within the town centre. Emsworth FoodFestival effectively closed the town centre to ‘normal’ lifefor just over four days, whilst the cost of running such alarge event continued to escalate.
So what will 2008 be like? There will be plenty of activitywithin the organising committee, as they have pledged tokeep the heart of the festival going. Projects will continuein schools, the three Young Chefs competitions will takeplace and local charities and initiatives will benefit from the2007 event. In addition, the organisers are looking to put together a comprehensive planning schedule includingconsultations with residents and businesses to look at how the next Festival can serve best the community’s interests.The team will also be visiting other regional festivals totake a fresh look at what attracts visitors whilst seeing forthemselves the challenges and solutions taken by other food events.
The Festival was originally set up to serve the businesses within Emsworth, and for many it will be a year to reflecton how the Festival works for them – particularly aroundSeptember. Does the Festival generate income simply forthe producers trading at the event or is it key in keepingEmsworth buzzing with a choice of food retailers and greatrestaurants and pubs – allowing people to discover somethingthat Emsworth people have known for decades. Emsworthis a unique place, worthy of national attention and one thatwill continue to thrive amongst a world becoming dominatedby supermarket giants – several only a few miles away inthe foreseeable future. 

Amanda Fallbrown

The EMMS Jan 08

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