Huge Hike in Interest for Richmond Festival
The future of a leading Yorkshire festival has been secured thanks to the support offered by marketing firm Adessi.
As Yorkshire’s only walking and literary festival was facing uncertainty after being hit by a number of major funding cuts, organisers turned to Adessi for help recruiting sponsors and to publicise the week-long event.
After working alongside the festival’s organisers to strategically approach a number of companies and organisations Adessi recruited the festival’s four much-needed sponsors – confirming Yorkshire bootmakers Alt-Berg as the festival’s main sponsor, Welcome to Yorkshire and the Darlington and Stockton Times as supportive sponsors and The Co-operative Group as an event sponsor.
The Alt-Berg Richmond Walking and Book Festival, originally launched in 2000 as the Richmond Walking Festival, offers visitors to the Yorkshire Dales the opportunity to try out over 50 guided walks and attend events with internationally known authors.
Colin Grant, Richmond Town Manager and event organiser, said: “We’re delighted with the support which Adessi has given us and the festival as it enters its eleventh year. The 2011 festival has a fantastic programme of speakers and events lined up which may not have been possible without the relevant sponsors in place.
“Alt-Berg is a company closely associated with Richmond and securing their support as our main sponsor, along with Welcome to Yorkshire, the Darlington and Stockton Times and The Co-operative Group as our other key sponsors, has been great news.
“Large regional events such as the Alt-Berg Richmond Walking and Book Festival are extremely important to local businesses and our economy as they can encourage many more people to visit and explore our stunning region.”
Mark Carton, Managing Director of Adessi, added: “Nobody likes to see major social and community events in jeopardy. Unfortunately as with many others, in the current climate, the Alt-Berg Richmond Walking and Book Festival was feeling the strain after being severely hit by funding cuts.
“Our biggest challenge was identifying possible sponsors from the private sector who felt they were in a position to support such an initiative. However, by working closely with the team behind the festival we were able to secure four superb sponsors who are very passionate about helping us to ensure this year’s festival is the biggest yet.
“In addition to recruiting sponsors we are also implementing a strategic national PR campaign to maximise publicity for the festival and its outstanding programme of events.”
Adessi is a full service marketing agency which offers expertise in areas such as strategy and branding, PR, design, media-buying, advertising, ebusiness, telemarketing and events management from bases in Leeds, Newcastle and Teesside.
