Strawberry Fest Enniscorthy.

jpb1974

http://www.wexfordstrawberryfestival.com/contact/ Why don't you post the link to dunbrody festival there instead of being arsey here

I've used the contact link provided and forwarded them the URL on this thread asking for them to comment on same. If they respond I will let you know.

'scorthy

Great thread; a great insight into the physique of townsfolk. Having served on the then 'Strawberry Fair' (now publicised as the Strawberry Festival) committee many years ago I can perhaps enlighten the boards on some issues raised.
It was originally formed to promote the sale of strawberries, plain and simple. Growers got together to show their produce and increase sales locally and marketing in general. Aidan Ryan, was in my opinion, the motivation behind the successful promotion of the event and added entertainers with recognised names. JPB1974 is correct in stating (it needs) (1) People with good ideas (2) People motivated & driven to implement them (3) People with good management and organizational capabilities (4) Money.
I would have put MONEY first on the list as in my experience on the committee there were lots of innovative ideas from motivated people but they had to be self-funding and not a financial burden on the fair. If I were to look at the "festival" from an organisational viewpoint I would ask many questions: Why have a festival? Who does it benefit? Can we tie up with the tourism board? How much sales does it generate for the growers and how much do they put back in? etc..The town needs a festival and for want of a better term Strawberry is just as good as any but it doesn't need knockers or apathy. Remember, it must cater for all, including the rural community it's not just a festival for townies. I'd encourage positive ideas and thinking (and comments). Forget about the Ghost-town image and look at the good things we have. It's a great town steeped in history and with great people & characters. The Strawberry Festival committee have asked for ideas and comment on line; if you have a positive suggestion I'd suggest this as your starting point. And SCALLER, no more blatant plugs for New Ross (don't get me started!) jpb1974 100%

Cantona's Collars

No worries jpb1974, theres always The Eileen Aroon festival to look forward to:) That'l put Oxegen in the shade:D

Cantona's Collars

I'd always be a staunch defender of Enniscorthy and as said by 'scorthy the festival grew out of the growers show.But if it is now being put up there as a festival for the WHOLE COUNTY then it should be marketed and promoted as so.Nobody here ever mentioned it as being for 'townies' but your being stereotypical when thinking all country people listen to country+western music and 'townies' don't.Each to their own but a successful festival caters for all tastes.Maybe utilise Bellfield for paid access to big name artists and free music around the town aswell.As you pointed out,money is the major obstacle and especially in recession even more so.But times move on and what was successful before may not be so now.Just look at what Bundoran did at the weekend for a small town.People don't mind paying for quality.

jpb1974

Big names, money, differences of opinion aside I'd just like to say that I thought that the rock band last night were great and full credit to them. There was a big crowd in the square and from what I could see a lot of people were enjoying themselves.

Cantona's Collars

The smaller bands such as these would benefit from having big acts in town,imagine the exposure they would get just by playing to the crowd drawn in.Maybe in the future we can tell our kids about the day we saw a superstar play at the fair when they were only starting out.

St Senan

'scorthy wrote: »

And SCALLER, no more blatant plugs for New Ross (don't get me started!) jpb1974 100%

I am not pluggin Newross i am using it as an example to show people how a summer event should be organized.
Maybe i should use the Bunclody Eileen aroon, Adamstown show, Kilmore seafood festival instead of Dunbrody festival.
I am not from Newross my family on both sides are big familys in Enniscorthy. I would love to see the strawberry fair been a big success in the county again. The few times i remember a strawberry fair that was good was 1987, 1989 the year we had the French also 1996 and 1998.

Judgement Day

This is a very useful thread but amongst other it highlights the lack of Wexford posters on Boards - those that do are more interested in posting in the inane "Where are you from in Wexford" thread rather than something worthwhile here. I would be happy to see the Strawberry Fair thrive as God knows the town needs a lift but, to me, I see it as another badly run effort like the awful St.Patrick's Day parade. I'm an outsider and have noticed a marked reluctance to involve newcomers in running things - I could be wrong that's just my view.

'scorthy

scaller wrote: »

I am not pluggin Newross [good] i am using it as an example to show people how a summer event should organized.
Maybe i should use the Bunclody Eileen aroon, Adamstown show, Kilmore seafood festival instead of Dunbrody festival [Perhaps not].
I am not from Newross my family on both sides are big familys in Enniscorthy. I would love to see the strawberry fair been a big success in the county again. The last times i remember a strawberry fair that was good was 1987, 1989 the year we had the French also 1996 and 1998 [one that really sticks out in my mind also].

Pat Coady had a point recently; all organisations should unite under one banner to promote the town...ideal platform for the development of the festival. The 'Community Services Council' were very good in coordinating groups and if you wanted to help out or get involved as a newcomer you went into Mary and put your name on the list. Not sure if that organisation is still in existence. [anyone enlighten me?]
Judgement Day " I'm an outsider and have noticed a marked reluctance to involve newcomers in running things - I could be wrong that's just my view." Might be some truth in that...same people striving to do the work on committees year in/out.

St Senan

It's plain and simple the Strawberry fair is dying out

Those who make money out of it should reinvest in good Entertainment. The comittee should step aside and let young people with fresh ideas take over this should be done through a meeting with the local buisness people the garda and town council presant.

Traditional Irish and countrymusic should still be played in the Square to cater for the older generation.

Big named acts should be in Bellefield or Patricks park with an admission fee to cater for youth. Their should be street entertaiment at the weekends. Buskers, Bui bolg, Clowns and Mime artists, Another Idea would be to have a big dance arena say in the Farmers mart carpark with local DJ.s

The pubs could orginise there own Entertainment.

Was there any swinging pub competions held this year
Was there any raft racing on the slaney this year
Was there any road racing this year
Was there a Steam train this year


There should be a massive Fire works display held on Vinegar Hill for the closing ceramony.



Their is plenty of places in the town to have stalls instead of a corner of the field. why not have the stalls along with the farmers market held down in the abbey carpark.

In 1998 we had the huge concert on the Fair green with the Millenium drum that drew a large crowd.

Judgement Day

But it's not going to happen is it. The council couldn't even manage to paint the seats in the Market Square to have them spick and span for the festival - right outside their offices - and the Castle.......what a disaster area. 'Enniscorthy 1500' How are ye???

Cantona's Collars

5 pubs entered the pub talent this year,the judges were nearly pleading with pubs to enter,Enniscorthy apathy strikes again.Anyway congrats to Houlihans on winning.For a town where you can't throw a stone for hitting a pub a paltry 5 entries is disgraceful.

Mr.Mister

I was down in Ennisciorthy visiting a friend,i didn't get the wow factor from this festival,thought it was crap if i'm honest,but on the upside the food in the hotel by the river was lovely.

Judgement Day

The only high point was that the excellent Farmer's Market was extended to two days instead of the usual Saturdays-only. There seems to have been a certain amount of disappointment that the usual level of drunkeness wasn't attained due to restrictions on public drinking.

Mr.Mister

Judgement Day wrote: »

The only high point was that the excellent Farmer's Market was extended to two days instead of the usual Saturdays-only. There seems to have been a certain amount of disappointment that the usual level of drunkeness wasn't attained due to restrictions on public drinking.

Ah yes,the farmers market was great too,as i got some fudge for my drive back.

The Man of Aran fudge is King!

jpb1974

Received this today -

Dear Mr *****,

I will bring your concerns to the Strawberry Festival Committee tomorrow evening….as we are reviewing the Festival then…


Regards

I replied requesting that she give me an update on the outcome of the Festival review.

jpb1974

Some additional correspondence-

To: xxxxx
Sent: Tue, 29 June, 2010 16:21:21
Subject: RE: Strawberry Festival


[/FONT][/SIZE]Hi xxxxx,

I am sure there are many improvements necessary but that is the joys of a very small budget and an equally small voluntary committee…I will keep you informed and thank you for your interest and comments…

From: xxxxx
Sent: 29 June 2010 14:20
Subject: Re: Strawberry Festival


Thanks for the reply. I'd appreciate if you could provide me with some feedback as to how the festival review goes.



Thanks again.

xxxxx

St Senan

That says it all that the People/Businesses who profit out of the Strawberry fair put shag all back into it for next year. At least the organisers could have made a bigger effort this year with the town been 1500 years old. Could the committee not have fundraisers also approach the Pubs and Hotel owners the Shop keepers, the Takeaways and Restaurants.

Cantona's Collars

The pubs etc. made a nice few quid over the weekend,they will only be interested in something that makes them money-if people are on the street enjoying entertainment they aint in the pubs,hotels etc. spending money.Terrible that the commitee have to beg for funds and an opportunity to tie in the 1500 celebrations with the fair has been missed.The selfish attitude of Enniscorthy business strikes again,if they can't profit from it,they don't want to know and can't seem to see the big picture of what a successful festival will bring to the town.If people think something is crap they won't come back and wont recommend it to their friends.Should have been a memorable year for the town but turned out to be meh!

Mr.Mister

A perfect example of making a festival a success is the mitchelstown music festival,it started off like the strawberry festival in the square in mitchelstown and now look at it... It's called 'Indiependence Music Festival' now.

And due to the progress over the years the whole town benefits from the thousands attending.

St Senan

zerks wrote: »

The pubs etc. made a nice few quid over the weekend,they will only be interested in something that makes them money-if people are on the street enjoying entertainment they aint in the pubs,hotels etc. spending money.!

It's the Take aways restaurants Pubs and Hotels that benefit the most regardless of whether the people are in them or drinking on the streets. People will need some where to sleep and eat some pubs will have their own Entertainment lined up with an Admission fee and with bar extensions at the weekends.

Cantona's Collars

Calculated risks need to be taken regards the festival,if you attract people to it you need to grow and innovate to keep them coming back.Putting on the same show that worked 20 years ago won't work anymore-the public want a wow factor.Witnessed it myself over the weekend with night time entertainment,people sat back as if they were in their living rooms instead of getting caught up in the occasion.A huge amount of locals didn't even venture near the town centre and treated it like a normal weekend,hardly going to lead to growth there.But there is hope-use the successful festivals as a template,get modern and relevant entertainment,renew local interest and sponsors and with luck the festival will be reborn,grow and prosper instead of limping from year to year to oblivion. (Another thing-lock up the local scallies for the weekend it's on and cut down drunken antisocial behaviour at the fair by 90%:D)

'scorthy

Well done jpb1974; at least someone got off their ass and followed up! You've all made some very valid points but I don't think you've grasped the reason why there is a Strawberry (Fair) Festival. AISP: It's purpose is to SELL Strawberries. For many of us it gave summer employment either picking the fruit or working in Chivers, pubs took on extra staff and local businesses benefited from the extra through trade during the slack summer time. The committee consisted of representatives from the main social organisations; tidy towns, youth group, social services and growers. I was never privy to how much the growers contributed financially to the committee's coffers but I always felt that they were doing us a favour by growing the fruit while we worked to come up with self-financing novel ideas to create entertainment that wouldn't burden their profits. Now we're having a post-mortem on a festival based on entertainment value - but the growers are looking at how many punnets were sold and will base their opinion on that criterion.
All the great suggestions put forward on this thread have at some time over the history of the fair been tried. I know the frustration of the committee and their attempts to bring in new blood only to have their ambitions for the 'best fair ever!' dashed because there was no funds and the weather. It's easy come up with suggestions but having the manpower and inclination to follow it up and get the job done is daunting. The simplest event or activity has to be carefully planed, insured, H&S, feasibility, your time etc.
Let's wait for jpb1974 and the results of the autopsy but look forward to the other festivals coming up in the town soon. Do they need our help?

jpb1974

Just some additional feedback from a few of people I spoke to about the fair yesterday evening -

* I gave a friend of my mother a lift down from Gorey last night. She was of the opinion that the ban on drinking in the Market Square was a real atmosphere killer. When I told her that people were being stopped and having their bags searched she was shocked.

* I didn't go into the Fair on Saturday night but my other half trekked in with my mother. I told her about this thread last night and her response was "If Saturday night's entertainment was anything to go by then people are probably right to feel annoyed, it was an absolute embarrassment".

* I asked my mother this morning about the entertainment on Saturday night. She said it was very poor, people didn't know any of the songs and they just couldn't get into it.

So, just a few additional opinions there.

It should be noted that the other half, the mother and myself all enjoyed Sunday night.

jpb1974

Personally speaking I'd be saddened to think that in this day and age the major criteria for the success of the fair would be based on the number of punnets sold.

I'd also be curious to know - how many people who have complained about the festival on this thread would be willing to step up and join the committee and make a real contribution to making the fair better?

The one reason that I don't give out about the fair too much is because -

(a) for me it's free

and

(b) I know I wouldn't have the time, drive or commitment to join the committee

It is interesting that zerks (who started this thread) posts the Stawberry Fair Contact link in this thread but it doesn't appear like he/she has actually gone to the effort to use it... or for that matter thank me for doing what he/she hadn't the balls to do. An armchair expert methinks.

Cantona's Collars

Thanks for your input jpb1974-I forgot to thank you earlier.DIDN'T LIKE YOUR ARMCHAIR EXPERT JIBE THOUGH!!! I shouldn't need to explain myself on a forum but due to work constraints (unsocial hours) and previous experience with approaching the commitee in the past on allowing young blood some input into the fair,I wouldn't be hopeful when trying that again. Don't cast judgement on people without a foundation. On your point that the fair is free-just because something is free doesn't mean it has to be mediocre.Maybe if a poll of the people as to what they want to see in the fair was conducted and try work on that.Did you ever approach the organisers with ideas before? I doubt it-Cast the first stone etc. etc.

jpb1974

zerks.. you now have an opportunity to make a difference. You can see all the problems and seem to have a number of solutions.

If you want the fair to change, adapt and ultimately get better you can't have this 'I tried and failed' attitude.

The email addresses are posted below... so I say go for it, you've nothing to lose really. I certainly think there'd be more to gain because let's face it... these internet forum debates rarely actually go anywhere. There's about 15-20 regular contributors on the Wexford forum... really not enough to make a huge difference.

Helen Brady
<Helen.Brady@enniscorthytc.ie>

Sean Doyle
<sean.doyle@enniscorthytc.ie>

Cantona's Collars

Rant over:D There was a good point made by 'scorthy regarding insurance etc. for public events-how many festivals,field days parades etc have died due to extortionate insurance rates.Recently we tried to organise fund raisers for a soccer club but every fun,novel and money making idea fell on its ass due to insurance not letting us do anything. The amount of expenditure before a band or any other entertainer is paid hamstrings a lot of organisers.Even so,The South East is overlooked a lot by powers that be-any festival in the West is supported to the hilt,this is a trend through everything,employment,infrastructure etc. This point has been discussed at length before so here is not the place to drag it up but a bit of support would be nice.Imagine how big the fair would be if Brian Cowen was from Enniscorthy.

jpb1974

Imagine how big the fair would be if Brian Cowen was from Enniscorthy.

And he agreed to sit in one of those yokes where if you can hit the target with a ball he's dunked in the water.... it'd be huge.... people from all around Ireland would show up and gladly pay €5 to throw a few balls.

The money from this could be used to fund a set by U2.

Cantona's Collars

Ha Ha-nice one,the mental picture is hilarious.Just had a quick glance at local paper-somebody was reading boards.I won't comment further as I only read the article quickly,I'll get a chance later but the gist of it corresponds with a lot of what has been said on here.