Food and Drink Festival fails to pull in bumper crowd

Mon, 25 Oct 2021

The Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival saw a fall in attendance this year.

Figures from the Manx Government show last month's event only managed to pull in 10,000 people including children - a fall of 6,000 from the previous event during the pandemic.

An event report by The Marketing Partnership reveals exhibitors favoured the event being at Knockaloe Farm rather than the Villa Marina.

Visitors who took part in the survey said there was a lack of seating, diversity of food stalls and too pricey.

Clare Barber MHK, Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, said: “The festival continues to play a significant role in growing the food and drink sector, a key goal of our Food Matters strategy. The report gives a clear indication that people are increasingly keen to know where their food comes from and buy and support local.”