REDDITCH BID manager Muj Rahman says he is ‘still buzzing’ after the town’s incredibly successful food festival last weekend.
Running over Friday, Saturday and Sunday it saw thousands of people flock to the town centre to enjoy flavours from around the world, craft stalls and cooking demonstrations from top chefs – as well as a range of headline acts and entertainment to wow the crowds.
“It’s was an amazing weekend and what really stood out for me was the way of the community of Redditch really came together to support it,” said Muj.
“I’ve received so many nice words and congratulations – we even had a food critic there, Paul James, and he remarked on how the people of Redditch had come out in force.”
And it wasn’t just residents who enjoyed the festival – town centre businesses including the Kingfisher Shopping Centre also received a welcome boost, despite the event being held outside.
“The support we’ve had from the Kingfisher has been tremendous and the updates I’ve received show that footfall in the shopping centre has exceeded the levels of 2019, pre-pandemic, so it just shows that Redditch really has bounced back,” said Muj.
“Even the food outlets in the Kingfisher have done well with McDonald’s say their sales were up over the weekend, which just goes to show that events like these are a win-win for the town.”
He acknowledged that as a first major event there were lessons to be learnt from how it went.
“This was our first major food festival in Redditch and we didn’t know how big the crowds would be,” said Muj.
“We had stalls on both sides of Market Place which made it very crowded so for instance in that case we’ve learnt we need to spread things out a bit more and make it more open.”
Attention now moves to Saturday, July 16 for the next Redditch BID event, a Vintage Day featuring classic cars and motorcycles.
“We’re currently working with the Shakespeare Rally to make this a truly spectacular event and of course we’ll be drawing on the heritage of Redditch with classic motorcycles,” said Muj.
