We went to The Rum Festival: Kent, last Saturday. More and more events "festivals" are popping up from Gin to Prosseco and we always take a keen interest on behalf of our clients.
This one especially caught out eye...rum being a particular favourite tipple of ours. Held at the Kent Event Centre in Detling, we were in high hopes after successful ventures there over the past few years involving various different spirits and wines.
However....on arrival as much as the lovely taster glass we were handed was a nice touch. They immediately mentioned that they had issues with the promotional brochures and so none were available. There was also no food...as they sub contracted this side out and hadn't in fairness clearly advised the supplier on volumes of people that were going to need servicing!
So..the actual festival. Well, layout wise again from an experienced event planner, the space could have been used much more efficiently...so a great designer is so valuable to a large scale event. There seemed to be a breakdown in communication with staff and a lack of someone in charge...again an event or project manager really is vital at these things!
On the plus side though, there is nothing bad about having over 100 rums to try...unless you have no food (please see above) and the staff although not seemingly trained sufficiently to advise what rums to try and what mixers went best...worked tirelessly and were friendly. The music stole the show with a variety of bands including a steel drum band that covered the full spectrum of Caribbean and Latin music.
On the whole when you take into account the low ticket price, you should never have high expectations and shouldn't expect a premium value show. But it left us thinking through the rum haze of what could have been. the concept was great...the execution not so.
It hasn't put us off attending similar events in the future, or advising clients to do the same. But it does clearly show the work needed in putting on large events, and having skilled expects in every aspect like project management, design, training. promotion and catering can make the world of difference.
Don't allow your event to fall below your needs and expectations. Get in touch with our skilled and experienced events team... and lets make it an event to remember..!
Contact: info@wearemeat.com