Tastefest Cork

Having just read a blog posting from mutant space on twitter having seen it on a tweet from Ella Mc Sweeney I decided I needed to reply I organised & ran the Springfort Hall restaurant tent @ Tastefest Cork last weekend & agree with some of things the unnamed writer had to say but also feel some of the comments were very unfair even more so considering the writer did not even attend the festival. The prices quoted in the post are correct but what is not mentioned is the online booking discount which was 30-40% off & that thousands of free tickets were distributed in the days leading up to the festival. On the Friday the weather was terrible & the organisers immediately announced that anyone with tickets for Friday could use them Saturday or Sunday. Moving on to the stand fees producers were charged depending on the size & location of there stands I know of a significant number who paid €800 and a few €1500. The percentage break down is also completely wrong the 15 restaurants paid 50% drinks companies 20% & food retailers/small producers 10%. The split between restaurants and the drinks companies was unfair but 10% is not unfair for a producer/retailer considering the invaluable amount of contacts & new distributers that are picked up at events like this. As for the cost of the food at the Springfort Hall Country house hotel stand we charged €3 for a Starter or dessert, €4 for another starter & €6 for a main course all portions were half there normal size for a quarter of the price & prices & value were similar across the board. What I do agree with is the set up yes more cork companies could have been used but I do know the organisers & they are a few young guys doing this for the first time and they did a fine job of it yes they made mistakes and would be the first to admit it but can you blame them for going for an all in one safe company to partner with 1st time out what would we say if they had used local companies and made a mess of it. Here is a few other opinions for your consideration.
http://www.corkbilly.com/2011/06/tastefest-cork-2011.html
http://followthefoodlink.wordpress.com/
The picture shows the dishes Springfort hall did at tastefest