Some residents of Keswick feel they are living in a “theme park” because of the amount of mass events taking place, a meeting in the town has been told.
Councillor Adam Paxon raised the problem at Keswick Town Council during a PowerPoint presentation from Nicola Meadley, director of the Keswick Mountain Festival.
But a message on her final slide encouraging people to “ask not what Keswick Mountain Festival could do for them, but what they could do for the festival,” drew criticism from Cllr Paxon.
“This might be a little controversial, but it’s well-meaning,” he said. “That little statement at the end has irked me a little. I need to highlight that the town council is not a chamber of trade. We are elected by the people of the town. People live here and they live in a majestic part of the world and where they live is an accident of their birth. They ask me what the town council is doing to help them live in an actual community and not a theme park.”
Ms Meadley replied that it was a “fair question and a fair challenge” and that the event wants to be “truly inclusive”.
It is returning in May next year having been “re-engineered” with a new five-year vision, after previously running at a loss and putting it in doubt for a time, she told councillors.
It is “conservatively” estimated to bring £1.3m into the local economy, and quite possibly more, she said.
Mr Paxon said: “I’d be more interested in what you are doing with our local schools, in what you are doing to give a discount of access for the people here who have limited resources, to engage with some of the things that happen in their own town?
“Parents with children can’t always afford to take them to things happening here.”
Ms Meadley said: “We have absolutely no doubt at all that one of the biggest assets we have is the name Keswick Mountain Festival, and that we are Keswick’s mountain festival. We have always worked with local businesses as much as we possibly can. We have, for example, always offered cheap tickets to local residents for music in the evening. We offer cheaper tickets for members of Keswick Athletic Club, for example. With the schools we have run a duathlon.”
Mr Paxon added that if the town council was a “stakeholder” in the event, organisers needed to “engage more” with the people of the town that it represents. “You refer to yourselves as the Keswick Mountain Festival, so I put it back to you: ‘What can you do to earn the moniker of being the Keswick Mountain Festival,’ not only in terms of business, but the people of the town actually being able to engage with what you’re doing. It’s not that people don’t want to support it, how can they be encouraged to do that, rather them feeling it’s yet another event not for them?”
Ms Meadley said that next year, it also looks set to start an arts project involving Keswick school and are also keen to get local musicians and live music venues involved.
“I would say I think we are doing a lot and have done a lot, and are very mindful that we want to continue to do that, and we are really open to any ideas.”
She said it planned “a weekend like no other, for, in and with Keswick” and hopes to “turn down” the evening activity on the edge of town, and “turn it up” in the town centre, but winding down by 9pm. The plan is to make it more “atmospheric” by again working with local venues and areas, such as Packhorse Court, The Pocket Cafe Bar, The Crafty Baa, and The Alhambra.
Councillor Sally Lansbury said event organisers had to be careful of the “impact” on the town and the more that could be provided for different age groups was always welcome.
