Poole Seafood Festival CANCELLED for 2023
Organisers have blamed the knock on effect of the pandemic
Last updated 10th May 2023
A popular festival, which attracts thousands of visitors to Poole, has been cancelled for 2023.
Organisers of this summer's Poole Seafood Festival, which was due to take place at the start of June, say it's no longer financially viable.
In a statement, Immense Events said:
"Unfortunately, Poole Seafood Festival will not take place this year. After much consideration it has become clear that it is not possible to deliver a viable festival under present conditions, so sadly we will not be taking up the option to run the event for the third year of the tender.
For the last two years, we have hosted Dorset's only free seafood festival on Poole Quay. Despite enormous challenges as we came out of Covid, we still managed to put on a great day out with food, drink and music. We have invested a lot of time and money in this event and we are saddened that it is not possible to continue this into the future."
Ben Dyas from Immense Events says the knock on effects of the pandemic along with the cost of living crisis hasn't helped:
"Some of the local restaurants that we thought would be key parts of the seafood offering simply don't have the capacity or the staff to be involved in an event like this. We've also lost some of the land we could use on the Quay.
"For an event, we want a long term goal of how the event becomes established and grows, becoming successful and profitable. But when we've struggled to make it pay for itself over the last two years, unfortunately it's not a risk we're willing to take."
In a statement, a spokesperson for BCP Council said:
“Despite working directly with the contractor, they have made the decision to withdraw from the tender and not organise the Seafood Festival this year.
“Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is looking at other events that could take place this summer and will be engaging with Poole Quay’s fantastic business community about these ideas soon.”
Immense Events say their other activities - the Ultimate Festivals at Upton Country Park and Poole Harbour Festival are not affected by this latest decision, and will go ahead as planned.