| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:W4 Eat Chiswick and Food Festival | |
| Posted by: | Paul Pryce | |
| Date/Time: | 08/06/15 14:55:00 |
| Last week there was a very interesting looking talk by the always excellent Val Bott on the history of gin and Hogarth which I would have been very tempted to attend had I not been working. The wristband would have given you a £5 discount on the ticket price which may have made it worthwhile although I didn't see anything else that I would have gone to. The most important innovation of this festival was the weekly market. This does seem to me something which it is worth persevering with as there seems to be widespread agreement but not quite universal agreement it was a good thing. The structure has to be thought about very carefully though. There were one or two local traders grumbling about the market and you have to sympathise, they pay high rents and rates and on their busiest day of the week a large number of rival retailers are given space where their customers might normally park. The Council are likely to be enthusiastic backers because they will make extra revenue from licensing but the cost is being born by local businesses. On the other hand a regular market could potentially have huge spin-off benefits for the area which could outweigh any revenue that is directly lost. |