Agenda item

Events Task & Finish Group Update

Report of the Cultural Services Team Manager

The Cultural Services Team Manager presented the report to Members.

He provided Members with an update on each event.

Food and Drink Festival

The Coalville Town Team delivered their Food and Drink Festival on 23 November. It was reported that this year’s event proved to be a popular event offering a wide variety of stalls, live music and entertainment.

Councillor M B Wyatt stated that he had received lots of positive feedback from residents regarding this event and suggested that the event should be continued next year.

Councillor J Legrys congratulated the Coalville Town Team for having organised such a superb event. He applauded the various individuals that had contributed their own money towards the event and stated that he was grateful that individual traders were willing to do this.

Christmas in Coalville

The event successfully took place outside Coalville Market on 30 November. It was stated that the area was more effectively programmed than in previous years and that it appeared that more people had attended. A short survey had been conducted on the day in which 84% of respondents had rated the event as either good or excellent. Feedback from local traders had also been complimentary, however, it had been noted that the location had pulled footfall away from the shopping precinct.

Councillor M B Wyatt stated that the Coalville Town Team should be encouraged to take responsibility for the event in future years. He added that this year’s lights switch on had been disappointing and that residents had not been inspired by it. He felt that the Coalville Town Team had the expertise required to improve the event going forward.

Councillor J Legrys stated that he had seen various negative comments from the public on social media regarding the lights switch on. He stated that next year consideration should be given to combining the Food and Drink Festival and the Christmas in Coalville events.

Councillor M B Wyatt countered that local businesses preferred two separate events being held. He explained that holding two events benefitted local traders as it encouraged people to visit the town centre on both weekends.

Councillor J Geary stated that he felt there had been a noticeable improvement in the Christmas lights this year. He suggested that the lights in Coalville compared favourably to their equivalents in Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Swadlincote. He stated that thought should be given to holding two separate events over the same weekend next year and added that there were various permutations that could be considered.

Councillor L Spence stated that there was undoubtedly room for improvement in future years but that the Working Party should be proud that it had pushed forward with improvements to the Christmas lights. He suggested that it was highly likely that next year’s event would be limited by the current financial constraints. He concluded that, consequently, a single event led by the Coalville Town Team ought to be considered next year. As such, he proposed that the Working Party ought to liaise with the Coalville Town Team to establish whether they would favour such an approach.

The Head of Community Services suggested that the Coalville Town Team could be invited to the next meeting of the Events Task and Finish Group. He added that there was certainly potential for the two events to work well alongside each other given that the Christmas in Coalville event centred on the Market Hall, whilst the Food and Drink Festival was based at the shopping precinct. He noted that if the two events were merged that consideration would need to be given to the timing of the event to ensure that the Christmas lights were not switched on too early.

Councillor L Spence stated that the lights in Coalville were noticeably late in being turned on this year compared to other local towns. He felt that there would not be an issue in moving the lights switch on to coincide with the Food and Drink Festival if necessary.

Councillor J Legrys countered that the Working Party had previously decided not to switch the lights on this early due to residents’ complaints that the Christmas period was too drawn out. He stated that local traders ought to be consulted and that no decision should be made until discussions had taken place with the Coalville Town Team.

Councillor R Johnson referred to the free car parking promotion that was currently taking place on Saturdays. He stated that he had seen users paying for tickets despite not having needed to and suggested that all meters should be covered to avoid confusion. The Head of Community Services confirmed that all meters had signs above them that explained the promotion and that additional signage had recently been installed to prevent any further confusion.

The consensus of Members was to invite representatives of the Coalville Town Team to the next meeting of the Events Task and Finish Group to discuss the 2014/15 Events Programme.

RESOLVED THAT:

the progress on 2013/14 Events and provisional plans for 2014/15 Coalville Events be noted.