Visitor numbers to Darlington Food Festival were affected by new admission charge

Traders and visitors claimed that only 4,000 people attended Darlington Food Festival last October because people were put off by admission charges.

A investigation into the food festival, which takes place at Darlington Borough Councils resources scrutiny committee on Thursday, March 4, said officers will review admission charges if the event takes place this year.

Following last Octobers event, councillors also complained about the admission charges.

The report said research was carried out to find out whether other food festivals charged visitors. Research concluded that it was common practice to charge for admission.

It was hoped that 40,000 people would attend the festival, which was in its second year, but only 4,000 tickets were sold.

The report added: "Over 4,000 people attended the food festival on Friday, October 2, to Sunday, October 4, despite the very poor weather condition on Saturday."

Entry was £3 per adult, with the council taking a third of the income to offset its costs. The rest went to Food Quarterly publishers, which distributed a magazine throughout the region to attract customers.

The total cost of the food festival was £43,200. It was met by income from NHS Darlington (£12,000), Darlington College (£1,000), admissions (£2,200), income from stalls (£10,000) and events budget (£18,000).