Events

24 June 2018: Probably the best Westbourne Summer Festival in years!

On a beautiful summer day, the Canal Side hosted Westbourne Summer Festival.

This was an astonishing community event, so worthwhile, with plenty of attractive and helpful stalls. The attendance at the Festival was estimated around 1200 people.

All really went superbly well . . . Worthy of note was the lively performance of classical music on the stage. The Bouncy Castle was extremely busy.

Environment issues were not forgotten: the Festival was a plastic-free event!

Community Champions were present in force, and parents engaged well with the team on their stall, visited by about 200 people.

The Festival carried good Forum branding, and the Forum stall was well attended, with a gentle but continuous flow of visitors making encouraging comments.

What we want to do better next time

Advertising by various means had reached over 6000 people. We want even more publicity to be given to the event.

Visibility of the Festival was still not ideal. We want to make sure that future festivals will be clearly signposted toward the Canal Side from Harrow Road and from the Warwick Estate.

Diversity of food on offer was better than at previous festivals. However, there was no Halal food stall clearly identified.

Although the Festival was environment-friendly, we want to liaise with the Canal & River Trust for the Canal to be cleaned before the Festival.

We were hoping to promote St Mary Mag’s Living Heritage project. However, the exhibition in the Warwick Community Hall was not well attended. Next year should be more open on St Mary Mag’s.

If you attended the Summer Festival, the Forum would welcome your comments and suggestions.