'Shocked': Locals share views on Shrewsbury Food Festival being axed

People in Shrewsbury say they are “shocked” that the town’s food festival has been canned.

Organisers of the Shrewsbury Food Festival revealed on Friday (October 16) that it would not be continuing the event into the future due to rising costs and the current economic climate.

Beth Heath, co-owner of the event organisers, Shropshire Festivals, said: “The festival is perfect in every way, but it can’t continue in the current economic climate.

“It is simply not viable to keep running it unless the ticket prices significantly increase, and we don’t believe the public currently has that disposable income to spend.”

Following the announcement, we went into Shrewsbury town centre to gauge the mood of the general public regarding the festival’s demise.

Reacting to the news, Terry Stock, from Longdon Common, near Shrewsbury, said: “How is it unviable?”

She added: “I am shocked actually, because it is such a popular festival, and it brings in a lot of people to the town.”

Asked if she worries about other local events similar to the food festival going the same way, Terry said: “Yeah, it makes you wonder about the markets that are held here regularly - if one thing is going because of cost, will others?”

Simeon and Lisa Wootton from Stafford are regular visitors to the county town. They even attended this summer’s food festival.

Lisa said of the announcement: “I think it is a real shame. We were here in the summer and it was very popular - there were a lot of people here.”

Asked about whether they think the festival’s axing might have a negative impact on the town itself, Simeon said: “Personally, I think none at all.”

James Shadbolt, who grew up in Shrewsbury, but now lives in Telford, was in the town centre to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday.

Asked about the food festival’s news, James was not totally surprised.

He stated: “It is a bit shocking, but I guess with the price of tickets, you kind of understand why.

“We never really visited, maybe a few friends and family went, but it was not something I attended myself. I just avoided going because I never really knew what I was going to get for the price of the ticket.”

Rachael Kenyon, from near Oswestry, and a keen foodie, had a similar sentiment to many, saying it was a “sad” development that the event would not be returning.

She added: “It is just another reflection of how society seems to be going backwards.”

In her statement about the winding up of the Shrewsbury Food Festival, organiser Beth continued by saying: “We are very grateful for the years of support from visitors, exhibitors, and sponsors, but that support can’t keep up with the growing costs in every department.

“People may not realise that this is a festival run by a small, independent team. Unlike free entry food festivals that are funded by local councils, this event isn’t financed by the council, and we pay our local council to rent the Quarry.

“This is not the news we wanted to share, and we have explored all options, but we cannot responsibly continue delivering an event of this scale without financial sustainability. We are removing our biggest business risk so we can focus on the rest of our event portfolio.”

She added: “We often hear, ‘halve the ticket price and you’ll get twice as many people’. But twice as many people means many of our infrastructure costs double too.

“More people would mean more security, more toilets, more admissions staff, more waste provision, more infrastructure and more of everything else.”

Shropshire Festivals has said it will continue to run other events in its remaining portfolio, including Shropshire Business Festival and Shropshire Oktoberfest.