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Simon Borkin

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Planning docs

Background

In 2022, Friends of Stretford Public Hall was selected as one of five pilot areas for the Community Improvement District (CID)scheme. The CID is based on the Business Improvement District (BID) model, which involves businesses in local economic development. The Stretford Town Centre Forum has been established to allow business and community stakeholders to realise the opportunities associated with current redevelopment plans for the town centre.

The Forum has now had a series of quarterly forum meetings to bring organisations together to explore how we can collectively improve visitor footfall, improve the local town centre environment, and celebrate everything that Stretford has to offer.

To this end, our first major initiative was to organise a Stretford-wide, free festival - taking place on Saturday 6th July 2024 to showcase the town centre and attract people to all the great venues, organisations, and businesses we have.

Promotion and marketing

Each venue helped to organise its own activities for the day but a Planning Group from the Town Centre Forum helped co-ordinate and support with marketing and promotion of the event. The event was free and we involved as many venues as possible.

Central to the success of the event was the effective marketing and communication of the festival. With this, a crucial use of the funding was to build the brand that would underpin the promotion of the festival.

We worked with a local designer - Pomona Studios to create the logo and underlying brand as shown below. This allowed us to create a dedicated website and social media pages using these assets to start to build interest and awareness of the event.

The StretFest

A free community run festival taking place across your favourite venues and spaces in Stretford

thestretfest.co.uk

In order to be as accessible and inclusive as possible, we also concentrated on producing posters and flyers that were visible around Stretford.

The logo:

Save the date image:

Poster:

Planning and co-ordinating

Our approach was to involve as many venues as possible and let them organise their own activities for the day - but a Planning Group from the Town Centre Forum helped co-ordinate the programme.

We organised a series of meetings for the Planning Group to work with the venues and organisations to finalise the programme which arranged into ‘zones’. This then allowed us to produce a map and programme to hand out on the day which you can access below. All of the printed materials on the day included the required Trafford Council and UK Leveling Up logos.

On the day

It’s fair to say that the event was a real success on the day with all the events and activities delivered successfully and a fantastic turnout across all the venues.

Here are some videos and pictures that capture the day: mcrjourno MCRJourno 🐝🏳️‍🌈 on Instagram: "Stretfest 🎈 #stretford #stretfest #trafford #greatermanchester #artsandculture #event #entertainment #daysout @brink.art.studio @thestretfest @nite_school_mcr @colbysm32 @slicethetomato @mechmum_ @kaigiraulo @headstretford @playmakerevents1 @cazlathamart @swigcoffeee @trafford_council @afewscoopsicecream @silence_of_the_jams_mcr @stretford_confidential @theatreperformance_thearden @the_late_freddie_price @beatties_bakery @stretfordtowncentre"

thestretfest The StretFest on Instagram: "St.Matthews buzzing in the sun! #thestretfest"

thestretfest The StretFest on Instagram

Feedback and Impact

We captured both ‘anecdotal feedback’ from participants on the day but we also sent out a survey to gather more formal feedback on the impact of the festival. Here is an overview of the qualitative feedback we received:

Feedback on footfall:

The Saturday of Stretfest delivered the best footfall on a Saturday in over twelve months.

On the day of Stretfest, footfall was measured as a 63% improvement over the previous Saturday and a 20% improvement over the same Saturday in 2023.

Again, these are the best Saturday footfall figures for growth against the prior Saturday or last year since the development works started.

Retailers reported strong takings, higher than-usual Average Transaction Values and a positive atmosphere with happy shoppers throughout the day.

The food and beverage units on Chester Rd and Kings St were well used during the event and all reported superb trading performances.

1200 people visited the library on the day - usual number for a Saturday is around 120-150.

Wider feedback on being involved:

An incredible turn out across all areas, events and venues with a diverse age range. There was constant movement across all the zones and every space was well scheduled, organised and attended. The range of events works fantastically and the positive feedback on the day was overwhelming. More food in the evening would help and as the roadworks clear this would ease and traffic congestion issues.

The number of people out and enjoying Stretford was indicative of the event's success, including phrases like "I've lived round here for years, nothing like this ever happens" There was a lot of love for the event, with people providing time and equipment for little or no cost. Getting people out and talking to each other is massively beneficial for communities. It is very important to note that the event was free and must remain so in future years

Could not have gone better in terms of attracting attendees, particularly with the short timescales and limited resources!

It was good to have free family activities, but I also hope there were free places for other ages to go, particularly thinking of older people by themselves.

Involvement of Local Businesses and Organisations

The StretFest organisers adopted a ‘Stretford-first’ approach from the beginning, which guided both the planning and implementation of the event. This strategy prioritized involving local businesses, organizations, and talent, and ensured their prominent promotion and participation. Consequently, The StretFest successfully showcased a diverse array of Stretfordian businesses, organizations, and artists.

Focusing in on the Cafe Del Carpark stage; seeing the result of the collaboration between the local groups & businesses was a personal highlight, and I believe that the stage successfully embraced the ‘Stretford-first’ strategy by showcasing local Stretfordian artists & businesses including DJ collective Nite School, and Neuron Pro Audio + Leeway Creative who supplied the audio equipment, and the nearby Colby’s bar.

For future festivals, we could look to allocate a few pitches for select local streetfood vendors + pop ups, incorporate more interactive activities, and add some additional sheltered areas, which would serve to enhance engagement further.

Attracting People to Stretford Town Centre

The festival attracted a large and enthusiastic crowd. One senior local resident remarked to me that they had ‘not seen Stretford this busy since the 70s’. Marketing efforts were strong, but we could improve by starting promotions earlier and utilizing more local influencers to reach a broader audience.

Improved Perceptions of Stretford

StretFest significantly boosted the town centre's image through vibrant activities and positive media coverage including articles by the likes of the MEN. Continuing the beautification efforts and incorporating more art installations could enhance this effect. We should also focus on post-event publicity with photos / videos of the day shared with local news outlets, capturing and sharing some positive testimonials from attendees & residents would be a powerful ‘social proof’ tool. Adam Maidment Greater Manchester town to host free festival with DJs, demo bikes, and theatre

Reducing Loneliness and Social Isolation

The inclusive activities and volunteer programs fostered community connections effectively. For future events, we could organize designated networking zones to help individuals form deeper connections, for example ‘conversation benches’.

Reducing Health Inequalities and Celebrating Diversity

Health and wellness programs and cultural activities were well-received and highlighted Stretford's diversity. To build on this, we could expand the range of health services offered, including mental health workshops, and introduce more cultural exchange sessions, along with ensuring that there are opportunities for artists from diverse backgrounds and those with disabilities to be able to perform and to be included - I have a few ideas & connections I will look to incorporate for this next year. Ensuring all events are accessible to everyone remains a priority and could be improved with better signage and assistance for those with disabilities.

Quantitative data

Which of these best describe your involvement in The StretFest?

Evidence of Impact

Based on your experience, how far do you feel we met these aims?

What impact did being involved in the festival have on your organisation?

Please provide any evidence or comments about the impact on your organisation based on the responses above but also what else worked well or what could be improved.

• It was lovely to see people enjoying the hall who had never been in before. It was one of the rare times all rooms were open to everyone and many people enjoyed the range of activities throughout. We received lots of questions about other activities and events going on which will increase overall engagement. Using the outdoor space gave a real feeling over community ownership of the land and space. The 'vibe' around the car park area was wonderful and working with other local businesses through the project has created new networking and collaboration opportunities for the future.
• I don't have the info to verify this, just anecdotal and an educated guess.
• See separate document. My answers are based on St Matthews Church and community organisations. Taking part in StretFest was not about self promotion in any way for my events business, it was about community.
• We had a brilliant time, with games and crafts in the mall. It would have been good if we knew in advance exactly where we would be, as it would help us plan. Stretford Mall and Little Green Sock Project did loan us a table to help, which was good.
• However, we ended up in a brilliant position and I think the craft activities was a good addition to the mall. We would definitely be interested in doing something again next year.
• On an individual level I would like to express my thanks to the very welcoming team of organisers for allowing me to join and make a mark on the festival at Café del Carpark. It gave me great pleasure to be able to utilize my skills & experience in stage management, design, content creation and event promotion on my own door step at the inaugural StretFest!
• The planning team is a wonderful, hardworking and passionate group Stretfordians and I think we now have a brilliant forum and platform upon which to build not just The StretFest, but to empower more collaborations & plan more events to drive footfall in the area as the regeneration work is completed. I hope that the team we’ve created are able to continue to meet on a reasonable cadence to bring ideas to the table to build the excitement around Stretford, and I am very eager to contribute my skills / experience as we strategise, grow and further our objectives.
• Speaking on behalf of the DJ collective I am a cofounder of, Nite School, the festival was an excellent opportunity top play a part in and help to shape a local Stretford-based event, as opposed to our usual experience with events in the city centre. The collective agreed to play for no fee, so we can’t comment on financial impact, however the festival provided a fantastic networking opportunity and gave us excellent local visibility.
• Lots of new people in the town which was great for spreading the word. Next year With the roadworks, hopefully finished the access,parking And availability of food will automatically be improved. Now that the local traders know how good it is I think they will look to extend their hours into the evening.

Select all the options that characterise your support / involvement in our future plans 9 responses