Research from the first Taste Cumbria event in Wigton has found that more than £80,000 was pumped into the local economy.
It is estimated that more than 2,000 people attended the inaugural event in October, according to independent research carried out on the day.
Taking into account people’s spending in the producers’ market as well as in the town itself, £80,345 was put into the local economy.
For every pound spent on staging the festival, £4.44 was generated – a great figure for an inaugural event, organisers Allerdale council said.
The researchers also found that 66 per cent of those who attended had gone to Wigton purely for the Taste Cumbria event.
Three quarters of visitors had come from within Allerdale, and a fifth came from within the county.
Sixty-six per cent of festival goers said they would also be going for a meal or a drink, 43 per cent said they would be doing some shopping, and nine per cent would be having a sightseeing trip too.
Of those interviewed, 95 per cent said they wanted to come to a similar event in the future, and 94 per cent said they would be recommending it to friends. Seventy-one per cent rated it ‘very good’, while an additional 27 per cent said it was ‘good’.
A number of people said they would like to see the event include a beer tent, plus some covered seating areas.
There were also calls for it to be a two-day event, rather than just a single day, and for a future festival to include more stalls.
The event was organised by Allerdale Borough Council and supported by Cumbria County Council, Wigton Town Council, North Allerdale Development Trust, John Peel Theatre and the Free 4 All community group.
Mike Johnson, leader of Allerdale Borough Council, said: “It has been fabulous to read this feedback after the Wigton event. We’ve also had great comments from the traders who were in our Producers’ Market – some of them had sold out in a just a few hours.
“Even though the Taste Cumbria brand is a strong one, it’s always a nervous time when you decide to plan a new event in an unfamiliar town but our events team did a brilliant job and it really brought the community together.
“The return on investment is great considering this was only a one-day festival – and it was held in the middle of October, away from the busy summer season. Luckily the weather was fairly kind and I hope we can make all the Taste Cumbria events even bigger and better next year.”
