Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Mark Prosser It is a franchise company thinking it can get away with London prices on public grounds to grab as much as your money as possible. Plus the half price tickets yeterday in a fit of desperation.... get your money back from your tickets as that is just spit in your face. Beer On the Wye, now thats how it should have been but with more produce stores. This was just like paying to get access to the May Fair. But worse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommysmith Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Agree with Aylestone Voice. Not fair to blame the Council really on this one, being the first time it has been held.I believe to hire events on areas like this, permission is needed form Balfour Beatty, of course the Council are their paymasters though. Don't believe for one minute it is illegal to temporarily cordon off a small area of land of public open space. Comparing it with the Food Festival is also daft. The organisers do (just) seem to have delivered on what they advertised, but the whole event does seem overpriced and of poor quality. I would hope that BBLP note public feeling regarding this, and not allow it to return. Instead BBLP could advertise/promote/facilitate to the local community that King George is available for use for events. I remember when the South Wye Big Event used to take place, that was always a good event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise Lloyd Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 TommySmith - Fields in Trust state that Hereford City Council are the Managing Organisation for the field so they would have some say in who books the field surely About Us Contact Us News Media Centre Complaints Privacy Accessibility Fields we protect King George V Playing Field Hereford, Herefordshire, HR2 7RQ 14.37 Managing organisation: County of Herefordshire District Council Further info Facilities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommysmith Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Hi Denise, You post mentions Herefordshire Council, not the City Council. I would agree that the unitary authority would be the managing agent but believe that booking events is done through BBLP. Like most of the Council, I don't think there are many HC Parks staff left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 From Councillor Jim Kenyon: Hi Colin I've read a lot of the comments already some good and quite a few bad I think it boils down to it was expensive and folks expected a bit more of a relaxed festival type atmosphere with local producers. It has also been reported that the bands were excellent which is a positive to put an event on like this costs a fair amount for infrastructure and is done at a financial risk to the organisers "remember the music wye festival" the organiser lost tens of thousands of pounds. It is good that event went on in Hereford perhaps if they are to do it again they need to engage with the local community more put on local producers and if entry is high make the rides free for kids because as you know as a parent it takes no time to spend a fortune at a fun fair. Cheers Cllr Jim kenyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Paul Marriot Not at all surprised by the negative responses. They had the same feedback at the Leicestershire and Derbyshire Sausage and Cider Festivals and also at a festival called Strawberry Fields that they took over and have ruined. This company Red Jelly Productions/James Dean Events should not be allowed to continue. The experience I had was sadly at Strawberry Fields and at the Leicestershire Sausage and Cider festival - both were the worst events i have ever been to and I go to loads of festivals every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Emily Leroy I would happily of paid £5 to get in. Pub prices for cider, it wasn't anything special, and def not £4 for a hot dog! It was ok but nothing more than u would get at any burger van! I don't have a negative attitude and fully agree not much happens here but it was expensive and no way a cheap few hours out for a family of four. Jason Davies Seems like I've managed to get myself blocked from their fb page! I feel my comments were valid and as I've paid my money, I am entitled to an opinion. Instead of answering in a constructive manner this organisation has seen fit to wipe all negative comments, I have to say that positive comments I've seen are from people connected to the event. If it was advertised as a small music festival, with food, drinks and prices that rival larger festivals, then it would have been ok. It certainly didn't deliver as a Herefordshire sausage and cider, family festival. I know on the Herefordshire voice forum that the organisers have today stated they delivered what they had promised, I and several others beg to differ. As for events occurring in this rural county, there are plenty, run by locals, supporting local industry and in turn supported by local people. So I don't feel people are unjustified by complaining about this event, what it does show however, is that there is clearly a desire for a genuinely local sausage and cider festival. If there are local producers reading any of this maybe you guys could take it board and make it happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 One of our local Councillors seemed to have a good time: Hannah Lerego My family and I went on Saturday. The children enjoyed the big swing ride. Us adults tried various ciders, which we enjoyed. The entertainment was tribute bands of Beatles Take That and Michael Jackson-all of whom were very enjoyable. We had a family ticket which I felt was worth it (three bands and in between music) The staff on door and those walking around collecting rubbish were polite, as were those serving food. We tried pancakes and kids went to craft stalls. Over all we enjoyed it and I would go again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Lucy James Very disappointing, was under the illusion it was a local thing with local suppliers, hardly a gourmet selection of sausages more like something you would find at the fair and as for the ciders you only had the one you wanted if the person serving could remember which one they had poured by the time they got back to you!!!! Stuart Prothero We went and found it to be a total rip off price of the drinks/ food etc to high couldn't even sample any ciders before purchasing didn't even think much of other entertainment either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulinehodges Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 I visited the event on Saturday ... paying £8.50 on the gate. I have to say I felt sorry for families having to pay £7 per child entry. Yes the fairground was tacky and there was a real lack of choice with the food stalls considering you could have been there all day but Hereford needs this sort of event ... I went with friends from outside Hereford and it made such a change for somewhere to take them! Prices of both food and drink were much as expected at this type of event and I was impressed with the many available toilets ... no queues .. and staff continuously cleaning up litter. The music was tribute bands mainly and everyone there seemed to be having a great time.... We certainly enjoyed it but entrance fees for families certainly need to be lower and lets have more choice if we cant bring our own food ( and onions with the hot dogs please!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise Lloyd Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Tommy Smith the Council employ BBLP so they are responsible for BBLP actions. Jim Kenyon - Local producers contacted the organisers of this "festival" and were told that the food had already been sourced. There is no getting away from the fact that this was a tacky overpriced excuse for a festival using the good name of Herefordshire. Many people were drawn to this event because they believed local producers would be involved. I think the Council would be doing the county a huge favour if they ensured that this money grabbing excuse for a company were never allowed to hold another event in Herefordshire. We deserve better than this. Incidentally I emailed the National Farmers Union this morning suggesting that they sort a Real Herefordshire Sausage and Cider Festival to try and restore some faith in what Hereford can actually do. It is not just this county being picky wherever this organisation have held events there have been complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommysmith Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Well, let's see local event organisers step up to the plate and use Castle Green or KGPF as locations more than has historically been the case. As is always the care, far more people take to social media/internet forums to complain about stuff rather than say positive experiences. So there will be some people out there I'm sure who thought the event was okay or even enjoyed it. That said, BBLP would be wise to carefully consider whether this outfit came back, in the same format as this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulinehodges Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 We may deserve better ... but at least they provided an event! Last year I went to the lovely food festival on Castle Green .. but that has disappeared. Better something tacky and a bit expensive than nothing at all!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenda Powell Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Tommy Smith, thank you for your praise of the South Wye Big Event, I was one of the organisers, the difference being the residents of all areas of South Wye were involved, hence the name we got funding the first year and it cost £10,000 to put it on thereafter the SW big Event team put it on ourselves every year. The only things that were paid for by the people was the food, drink and danter fair ground was at concessionary prices, it was very hard work but we loved it and so did the people,the food was local produce and the tea tent and food was supplied by the Redhill and Putson resident associations. police did the security and the council supplied the litter pickers , toilet blocks. and allowed us to put the event on the KGPF One year the event drew 15,000 people to it. Excellent community spirit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted August 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 The complaints still keep coming unfortunately... Rachel Bryan It was overpriced and there were not enough stalls to justify the money. I was expecting it to be similar to the food festival we had in Hereford last year, but was sadly disappointed! There was only one place to buy food, a limited amount of drinks on offer and rather expensive rides. Such a shame. Laura Rose We had a good time on Saturday, as did our 18 month old twins (thankfully too young to want to spend hours on the extortionately priced fairground rides) however given it was a sausage festival we all found the sausages awful; dry sausages, dry bread and no onions....no mustard either. Wasn't much of a sausage selection at all.... Should take note of how some of the local markets do it, far superior. A real shame as some local producers have amazing quality to offer.....felt it as liken to the May fair burger vans (no offence, but not good quality as you would expect at a 'sausage festival'). We still enjoyed it, but defiantly not for the food. Ale selection was poor too, but expected I guess as it was cider Sandy Wooldridge Not been so can't comment .. However it would seem that overcharging is an ongoing theme as is with most events .. It does concern me that the permits for these events don't stipulate a max charge and perhaps a quota of local business .. Can't be done all of the time. Granted ... But how many local ventures great ideas events have been thwarted by our council ...??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 I've linked this photo from Colin's very early post on this thread. How does the flyer reflect on what the main focus of the event turned out to be? I can't see much mention on there that a funfair was a main element. The suggestion I would get from that poster was that it was centred around sausages and cider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise Lloyd Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Emphasis on Gourmet Sausages?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted August 31, 2015 Report Share Posted August 31, 2015 Not overly sure on the branding on those wagons but if you type into google the exact spelling you can see the results for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Nathan Collings We need someone local to organise events like this. Someone who will source local produce and bands. Someone who actually cares if it all seems to have gone wrong. The cost of the entry should cover X amount of free samples local firms would happily give out to promote their products within the local community! (Sausage and cider in this case) Due to all the negative feedback we changed our plans and didn't go over the weekend so thank you social media! Truly Rural Very sad but again highlights the short sightedness of the organisers are they actually from Herefordshire? ???? I have to say there are a WEALTH OF QUALITY FOOD PRODUCERS IN HEREFORDSHIRE AND YET NOT ONE THERE UTTER MADNESS !!!!!! Jamie O'Rourke Hereford Voice - They began deleting user comments from the page and after I saw the 1.6* review they turned off reviews as well. I think they are just trying to hide the disappointment, not pre-approve any comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 From Councillor Polly Andrews: Sorry to hear about the dissatisfaction, though I personally have had no comments about it, suggest that the local ward councillors take things further Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Dawn MacLean Hi guys, think this event has damaged Hereford badly. Travelled up from South Wales. Saw event advertised on facebook and thought we were coming to a show like festival with local tradestands, Cider and locally produced sausages etc. Cant tell you how disappointed we were. Alarm bells went off for us when we saw young families having picnics taken off them if they wanted to go in, secondly we thought family ticket was £21 and when they tried to charge us £31 told them to do one Spent the day instead wandering around Town Centre, had a lovely meal and purchased local Cider and Sausages from butcher in Market Hall. Both were fantastic. The advertising for this is misleading. On a brighter note almost time for Abergavenny Food Festival and Usk Show proper events show casing local producers and products. Sorry Hereford is getting such bad press over this, should all bombard your Councillor's to make sure its not allowed to be hosted again. All the negative responses have been deleted on their facebook page strange wonder why that would be!! Unlike · Reply · 3 · Yesterday at 09:58 Tristan Edwards The advert didn't mention any of those things that you said you thought would be there, to be fair. It seems like a lot of people didn't pay much attention to what was actually happening. Maybe they should have emphasised what was happening a bit better as it would seem it left far too much scope for people's imaginations to run wild Like · Yesterday at 10:21 Dawn MacLean I disagree, its title Herefordshire Sausage & Cider family festival gives the impression of Herefordshire produced ciders, ales and sausages to which end you would expect tradestands from local producers with the added bonus of live music. I didnt get ripped off so consider myself lucky, got what I wanted in Town anyway without my imagination running wild thankyou. Like · 1 · Yesterday at 10:36 Tristan Edwards Your imagination already did run wild as you built it up to be something it was never publicised as.It was called Herefordshire Sausage & Cider Festival as that's where it took place. The one in Swansea was called Swansea Sausage & Cider Festival but it didn't mean that they'd have cider and sausages exclusively from Swansea. Same goes for all the other places they've been at. It's a touring festival, taking the same things all around the country. I'm glad you had a great time in town but there really is no need to thank me, I didn't do anything to contribute. It's good that you found the things you were hoping for there. Who needs a festival to enjoy what Herefordshire has to offer every day of the week, anyway? Like · Yesterday at 10:56 · Edited Dawn MacLean I will still disagree with you their facebook page they said they had over 40 arts and crafts stalls, didnt see much evidence of that(29th April) It wasn't the scale it gave the impression to be or what I personally expected, but hey ho at least the local butcher, cider maker and resturant got some additional money from outside the area. Unlike · 2 · Yesterday at 11:22 Tom Boland Tristan Edwards. I must admit, I let my imagination get the better of me too. I imagined that it wasn't going to be completely crap! Like · 3 · 22 hrs Jamie O'Rourke It was called the Herefordshire Sausage and Cider Festival, that absolutely, positively, advertises it as a local festival with local suppliers. Perhaps then, it was badly marketed and the reason why so many of the other S&C "festivals" are also getting bad reviews. People's expectation are not being managed resulting in a disappointment compounded by bad marketing Unlike · 1 · 6 mins Jamie O'Rourke It also says on the flyers "gourmet" sausages and cider, I'm getting the impression from the comments that they weren't tongue emoticon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Comments from the Herefordshire Sausage and Cider Family Festival Facebook Page Dawn MacLean They seem to have deleted all the comments under visitor posts!! Unlike · 2 · Yesterday at 09:18 Andi James James Yep they got rid of mine ... Like · 23 hrs Poppy Soo Cheyenne Jayne-Manning Shabby Abi Lloyd Emma Ashmead Sarah Mooney . Looks like everyone thought same as us guys! Even though a lot of comments seem to have been deleted, read the write up in the Hereford post above Like · 1 · 18 hrs Kate Woolf We were disappointed as it wasn't a festival . It was a field with a burger van and bar . We at least expected to have a taster stall where we could buy local sausages to cook at home . Maybe we've been spoilt at other food festivals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin James Posted September 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 Good to see they have cleared the site to be fair to them. Herefordshire Sausage & Cider Family Festival 8 mins · We've worked through the night to clean the park and hand it back over to you guys clean and litter free. Thank you for the support most of you have shown to us over the weekend. Xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefordman75 Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 The diesel to power all of the above for 7 days They only there 3 days, so why fuel for 7???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.Butt Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 They only there 3 days, so why fuel for 7???? ha ha well spotted. A lot of unhappy people too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted September 1, 2015 Report Share Posted September 1, 2015 The event was organised by James Dean Events 8 reviews on their FB page. All 5* obviously! They have Events coming up! Leicestershire Sausage & Cider Family Festival (3-5 June 2016) Derbyshire Sausage & Cider Family Festival (1-3 July 2016) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Bridges Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Having now read all the comments there were obvously some good points but these were certainly outweighed by all the bad comments made. I was going to go but unfortunately ended working the bank holiday. My impression from the leaflet and advertising that I would have expected local producers to be there and for the cost of entry thought that samples would have been on offer so folks could try before they buy. The prices of the burgers and saugsages certainly seemed to be SouthEast prices and given most folks in the County are on the below average wage I can fully understand the gripes being made. What we want is an event that is value for money but also been searched before entering is a disgrace. Even the event I organise in Belmont we sell food but I would not expect people to be searched and not everyone can afford to even pay for a burger at £1.50, but over £4 well is a total rip off and I know folks at my event do sometimes bring their own picnics. I do hope this Council reads the comments and learns from the lessons, I think even the river carnival event was free entry and the now food festival was free for which we would go to abd purchase goods from the local producers. Basically it seems that folks felt they were well and truly ripped off. This just seems to be a money spinning event for the organisers and also for Herefordshire Council! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise Lloyd Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 So Adrian - Tommysmith who I imagine is a Councillor incognito said that Balfour were responsible for taking bookings for KGPF. So they get all the flak flying around and yet the Council pocket the rent that would have been charged. I bet that ran to a pretty penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Jones Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Having now read all the comments there were obvously some good points but these were certainly outweighed by all the bad comments made. I was going to go but unfortunately ended working the bank holiday. My impression from the leaflet and advertising that I would have expected local producers to be there and for the cost of entry thought that samples would have been on offer so folks could try before they buy. The prices of the burgers and saugsages certainly seemed to be SouthEast prices and given most folks in the County are on the below average wage I can fully understand the gripes being made. What we want is an event that is value for money but also been searched before entering is a disgrace. Even the event I organise in Belmont we sell food but I would not expect people to be searched and not everyone can afford to even pay for a burger at £1.50, but over £4 well is a total rip off and I know folks at my event do sometimes bring their own picnics. I do hope this Council reads the comments and learns from the lessons, I think even the river carnival event was free entry and the now food festival was free for which we would go to abd purchase goods from the local producers. Basically it seems that folks felt they were well and truly ripped off. This just seems to be a money spinning event for the organisers and also for Herefordshire Council! Thank you for commenting Cllr, i think you have hit the nail on the head, people were expecting local produce, you could not even have a sample to try first of anything, unlike the ROTW festival which is very popular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian symonds Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 I was thinking of going, I am glad I did not now. I do understand how much things cost to run, my brother organised a few music festivals in Hereford and hiring loos, generators, lighting, security, it all cost money and that don't include the bands, stage, PA system . But people did not want to pay, trying to get in free of charge and people complaining about the noise, sounds about the norm in Hereford to be honest. I can also understand why the security of the cider and sausage festival took food and drink from visitors to a certain extent, that is how they will make their money is via the drink and food. But taking it from kids was wrong. But going by the leaflet I had through the door I did think the festival was to do with Herefordshire cider and sausages made by local producers. i am sure someone could do better, booze from local producers. sausages from local producers and what about local bands? Plenty of good bands in Herefordshire to use instead of bands trying to sound like another band. Shame really, I also know of people who came to Hereford for this and left disappointed, and saying if this is the best Hereford can do, then don't bother again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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