Here in Ireland we love a good old festival or fete. And right now we are in the height of the season for them. Yes, it is supposed to be summertime. So despite the fact that temperatures are barely above 12 degrees Celsius and we still have ground frost at night…. it is supposed to be summertime!!!
And summertime signals festivals in every town and village across the country. There are festivals to suit every taste – music, gardens, agriculture, quirky ones,and some decidedly odd ones – you will surely find one to suit your taste.
However, can I issue a little word of warning to festival organisers?
Guys, rethink your entry fees. Seriously!
We’ve chatted about it here at Redwood, and thought you know if they charge us €20 each in, we have to drive to the destination (and fuel is so expensive right now), so say €50 for fuel, then you may have to pay for parking too, and you want to eat when you get there…. it has quickly mounted up to over €100 for 2 people to have a bit of a day out. Not bad you might say.
Aaah… but think of all those stall holders in at the festival. We’ve been there, done that in a previous life. The stall holder has paid dearly (usually) for the privilege of taking a stand, has travelled to the show, perhaps has to pay for accommodation if they are too far from home, may have to pay for extra staff, and they need to eat too.
So folks, they need us to spend money when we are there. They NEED us to buy from them to make it worth their while to have attended the show.
But we’ve already spent €100 quid to get there. Our spending power is now diminished.
I can’t even imagine the cost for families going to such events, and kids wanting to purchase stuff. It must be a nightmare for parents.
I thought it was just us who thought like this, but I’ve recently seen blog posts about it, and yesterday I spoke with a neighbour who just abandoned plans to attend a show in Wexford because of the costs involved.
To event organisers….. there has to be a better way. We understand your need to make money, but don’t be so greedy. Perhaps a lower entry fee, and you might get more people attending? Have a think about it.
Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
A Year In Redwood 
Wow – €100 for a day out for two at a festival sounds pretty expensive, Margaret. So many people just wouldn’t be able to stretch to that. Surely the festival organisers make enough from stall rentals not to require an entry fee. The more people spend at the stalls the happier the stall owners will be and the easier it will be for the organisers to sell all the stalls for next year’s festival. Sounds like a win-win to me!
I know June. We went to Bloom on Monday (very wet day!) but thankfully we got a gift of the tickets, otherwise it would have been €20 each in, €5 for parking and €50 for petrol to get there! So it still cost us €55. And we brought a picnic – as food at these things is so over-priced.