Town Centre News

Record year for Feel Good Festival

Posted on 07/09/2010

View Gallery

The thousands that packed Rochdale town centre last month helped to make it a record year for the Feel Good Festival, which enjoyed its most successful ever weekend.

More than 10,000 people attended the event over two days, with another 1,000 taking part in warm up events held in July and August. 1,400 people watched a celebrity chef demonstration and more than 6,700 saw at least one live music performance.

The event, now one of the regions biggest free festivals, saw 35 artists taking part and included 30 attractions, also making it the biggest year for the Feel Good.

Many town centre businesses saw a ‘significant upturn’, visitors were up by over 40% on 2009 and despite the difficult economic climate, Event Manager Debbie O’Brien said the festival had an excellent year:

“Many businesses reported being much busier than usual, particularly on the Saturday. All the shops and bars that took an active part in the festival felt they benefited with an increase in sales, so next time I want to get even more businesses involved and continue to improve each year.”

Council Leader Irene Davidson said she was delighted with this year’s record turnout:

“It was great to see that so many people experienced what Rochdale has to offer. I would like to thank all the businesses that helped make the event such a great success too. I know many visitors were inspired by the events on offer and it was wonderful to see such a wide variety of entertainment, from established names to some fabulous local talent.”

A full evaluation of the event is underway, with initial visitor research showing that over 97% of visitors would come again next year.