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Now that business group Stratford BID have abandoned the River Festival, the Herald is spearheading a campaign to save it for the future




IT’S official – there will be no River Festival or Festival of Motoring in Stratford this year.

Yesterday (Wednesday) Stratford BID, the organisation that represents businesses in the town, finally admitted that it will not be running the festivals in 2023. No decision has yet been taken regarding Stratford Food Festival in the autumn.

However, the River Festival – last held in 2019 – was exceptionally popular with the public and there is a growing momentum for the event to be revived as soon as possible.

Stratford River Festival. Photo: Mark Williamson. (63356522)
Stratford River Festival. Photo: Mark Williamson. (63356522)

One artist who took part in the festival – Spesh Maloney, composer and singer with the gypsy folk band Scratchy Beard – told the Herald yesterday: “A lot of festivals have high ticket prices, but Stratford River Festival was free, and open to all – families, local people and tourists.

“People could just walk through the town and cross the river on to the recreation ground and enjoy it without having to pay.

“I spoke to a lot of people and they said, ‘This is not something we would normally go to, but now we’re here we’re really enjoying it’. It’s great for the local community.”

Meanwhile, the Herald has been putting feelers out about who could take on the festival.

We contacted an events company in south Warwickshire with an international client base who said they would be happy to take up the challenge of reviving the River Festival.

The offer came from The PS Events Group - which operates from Wixford near Alcester – because of the growing uncertainty over the festival’s future.

River Festival
River Festival

This week Lucy Nicholls, the founder and chief executive of The PS Events Group, told the Herald: “We’re passionate about bringing Stratford to where it should be. Local businesses have taken a bashing and Stratford needs to be an exciting place, not just for tourists but for local people.”

In a statement yesterday announcing its decision to not proceed with the River Festival and Festival of Motoring this year, the BID said it came against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis, calendar congestion and resource pressures as well as comprehensive feedback from the BID membership and advice from industry professionals.

A spokesperson for the BID said: “This decision has not been made lightly and follows months of discussions with our member businesses and experts in the field.

“The cost of running any event in the current economic climate is extremely challenging with massive price increases across the board making many simply not viable financially.

“Large scale free-to-attend events like these are particularly at risk because ticket prices cannot be raised to try to cover spiralling costs and as other income streams, such as sponsorship and grants, become increasingly difficult to source.”

Stratford River Festival. Photo: Mark Williamson. (63356517)
Stratford River Festival. Photo: Mark Williamson. (63356517)

The spokesperson added: “We are very conscious of difficult trading times and the unprecedented cost increases they face in their day-to-day businesses, many members are now questioning the value of major events in business terms, particularly over Bank Holiday weekends and in the summer season, with so many other events already taking place in the town.

“The Festival of Motoring traditionally has taken place over the early May Bank Holiday, only days after the Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebrations. An extra Bank Holiday for the Coronation this year and an already packed town calendar for May was a concern for many.

“The business model of the River Festival in July was particularly questioned. It obviously did not take place during the pandemic and last year the town resources were pooled to run a Jubilee event in the summer instead. Although this is a very popular community event, many members believe the BID should not be running any event that actually draws footfall away from the town centre.”

The spokesperson went on: “Many members now feel that limited budgets should be spread across smaller projects and events, particularly in the winter months when trading is tougher in a town like Stratford. This is what we will be focusing on during the coming year.”

“In the meantime, events will be one of the major areas of work BID does that will be reviewed in the coming months as we draw up our business plan for a new BID proposal for 2024 through to 2029. It is apparent to all that we are in a very different business climate to that of five years ago when the current BID plan, which runs until April next year, was created. New times demand new thinking.”

Stratford River Festival. Photo: Mark Williamson. (63356516)
Stratford River Festival. Photo: Mark Williamson. (63356516)

New thinking – or thinking outside the box – is the very quality being offered by the P S Events Group.

Chief executive Lucy Nicholls, a former actress, singer and dancer and director in musicals in The West End and on Broadway, formed the company 13 years ago after discovering she had a flair for organising parties and special occasions.

The company – which has a team of ten, including herself – was based in Stratford until moving to an office on a small business park on the outskirts of Wixford 18 months ago because of the need for more space.

Its portfolio includes event-organising for such international blockbusters as the Commonwealth Games and the Grand Prix alongside fabulous private parties and corporate events.

Regarding her ideas for Stratford, Mrs Nicholls said she thought an event to showcase the town could be wider than just a river festival while still involving activities on the river. It could be known as the Stratford Festival.

She was aware that although the River Festival had been enormously popular with the public, some of the local businesses felt they’d missed out on the benefits of the event.

“We don’t want to alienate local businesses but find clever ways of making them part of the project,” she said. “We need to be looking at their brand and their engagement and looking at the engagement of everybody in the town, otherwise there will be resentment. It needs to be a community experience.”

This week the Mayor of Stratford, Cllr Gill Cleeve, welcomed the offer by The PS Events Group to rise to the challenge of reviving the River Festival. She told the Herald: “To bring back the River Festival would mean so much to the residents and visitors of Stratford.”

But she added: “We obviously need to take into account the businesses of the area and make sure they’re involved. If anything like this happens we need to involve businesses by making sure they’re involved. If anything like this happens we need to involve businesses by making sure they’re part of it.”



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