The boys are back in town Saturday 14th June saw the fourth annual Daventry Motorcycle Festival take place. I have been to all of them and look forward to the spectacle. Year on year the festival gets bigger, there were more bikes on display this year than last and more people taking an interest. Motorcycles were displayed all down the High Street, the length of Sheaf Street, one side of Tavern Street and in the market square too.
For me though this year was slightly different because I ended up working at the event instead of just wandering around like a child in a toy shop.
I was a voluntary marshal and my patch was at the junction of Tavern Street, High Street and Sheaf Street. Bedecked in my orange high-vis vest and armed with a walkie-talkie, it was my role to keep an eye on things, open and close barriers as necessary and make sure that everyone was safe, (particularly when bikes were in motion).
Having a patrol area meant that this year I didn’t get to fully experience the event or enjoy it in quite the same way. Fortunately I did get to wander around a little and take some photos, a handful of which are attached for your enjoyment.
Instead of a review in the style of previous efforts (article 1; article 2), this post is going to be about what I learnt as a result of getting involved. In previous years I made some assumptions about how the festival was organised, who did the work and how it was funded. To be frank, my assumptions were wrong.
Bearing in mind that Saturday 14th June saw Daventry town centre turned into a colourful, bustling, dramatic, noisy, exciting environment with more people about than I have seen at any single point since last year’s event; I thought that Daventry District Council (DDC) or even Northamptonshire County Council had a significant role to play in proceedings. In previous write ups I have even praised the local council for being brave enough to organise it.
The fact is that the vast majority of the effort was made and the associated expense incurred by the small team of event organisers. Additional voluntary support came from enthusiasts associated with certain motorcycle clubs and the local air cadets.
As I understand it, DDC only provided a small sum of money through a local councillor’s empowerment fund.
And yet, on Saturday Daventry was on the map, cool things were happening and the footfall in town increased dramatically. I bet that the local businesses saw some significant uplifts in takings. People that I chatted to were having a good time and all said they’d be back again next year. Hopefully there will be a fifth event but that is no certainty. My view is that the festival simply cannot be sustained without the local authority providing some coordinated support. The current organisers just can’t be reasonably expected to fund another outing from their own pockets.
On the bright side the local MP Chris Heaton-Harris attended and so did the Deputy Mayor – fingers crossed they could see the value added to Daventry’s profile and the local business community.
Blog Home
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Other relevant posts:
The inaugural Rugby Bikefest 21/05/14
Headache, Harleys and Hope 28/04/14
P.S. I have all these images in higher resolution. If you want one emailed to you, just get in touch.
For me though this year was slightly different because I ended up working at the event instead of just wandering around like a child in a toy shop.
I was a voluntary marshal and my patch was at the junction of Tavern Street, High Street and Sheaf Street. Bedecked in my orange high-vis vest and armed with a walkie-talkie, it was my role to keep an eye on things, open and close barriers as necessary and make sure that everyone was safe, (particularly when bikes were in motion).
Having a patrol area meant that this year I didn’t get to fully experience the event or enjoy it in quite the same way. Fortunately I did get to wander around a little and take some photos, a handful of which are attached for your enjoyment.
Instead of a review in the style of previous efforts (article 1; article 2), this post is going to be about what I learnt as a result of getting involved. In previous years I made some assumptions about how the festival was organised, who did the work and how it was funded. To be frank, my assumptions were wrong.
Bearing in mind that Saturday 14th June saw Daventry town centre turned into a colourful, bustling, dramatic, noisy, exciting environment with more people about than I have seen at any single point since last year’s event; I thought that Daventry District Council (DDC) or even Northamptonshire County Council had a significant role to play in proceedings. In previous write ups I have even praised the local council for being brave enough to organise it.
The fact is that the vast majority of the effort was made and the associated expense incurred by the small team of event organisers. Additional voluntary support came from enthusiasts associated with certain motorcycle clubs and the local air cadets.
As I understand it, DDC only provided a small sum of money through a local councillor’s empowerment fund.
And yet, on Saturday Daventry was on the map, cool things were happening and the footfall in town increased dramatically. I bet that the local businesses saw some significant uplifts in takings. People that I chatted to were having a good time and all said they’d be back again next year. Hopefully there will be a fifth event but that is no certainty. My view is that the festival simply cannot be sustained without the local authority providing some coordinated support. The current organisers just can’t be reasonably expected to fund another outing from their own pockets.
On the bright side the local MP Chris Heaton-Harris attended and so did the Deputy Mayor – fingers crossed they could see the value added to Daventry’s profile and the local business community.
Blog Home
Blog Library
Home
Other relevant posts:
The inaugural Rugby Bikefest 21/05/14
Headache, Harleys and Hope 28/04/14
P.S. I have all these images in higher resolution. If you want one emailed to you, just get in touch.
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