Amount Awarded
£14,000
Event Background & Funding
EventScotland has a strong tradition of supporting fantastic literary events and Lennoxlove Book Festival, which takes place each November at Lennoxlove House in East Lothian, is one that Scotland can be proud of. It began in 2009, attracting 3000 people over two days of events. In 2010 the event moved to a three day format and included a host of prestigious writers including Quentin Jardine, Peter Snow, James Naughtie and Ian Rankin. The 2010 event received £10,000 through EventScotland’s National Events Programme and an additional £4,000 through Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink. This additional funding allocation was used to develop the programme to include the Haddington Farmers Market and incorporate food and drink branded events featuring food writers and critics Josceline Dimbleby, Mary Contini and Ian Buxton.
Tourism
In 2010 the event attracted 2,600 visitors with over 41% of visitors travelling from outside East Lothian. 4,700 tickets were sold across 50 performances.
Business
The event engages a wide variety of local businesses providing various networking opportunities and business receptions hosted by title and supporting sponsors. The event also provides local authors with an opportunity to publicise their work. With additional support through Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink, the event developed a partnership with the Haddington Farmers Market which saw nine outdoor market stalls incorporated in the ‘market marquee’ - a dedicated food and drink marquee which showcased, and gave festival goers the opportunity to taste and purchase, locally sourced foods.
Media
As one of East Lothians flagship cultural events, Lennoxlove Book festival generates a significant level of local and regional press coverage. Additionally, event partners, The Scotsman provided coverage in the form of commentary, picture stories and event features.
Participation and development
Transportation to and from the event was provided free of charge for local community members. Several family-oriented events were staged including free events for children and toddlers and a number of projects incorporating the local library and schools were developed.
Environmental
The festival employs an environmentally-conscious approach to everything it does, providing free shuttle buses for local community members, recycling points throughout the site and conducting an extensive online media campaign.
Key Outcomes:
2,600 Visitors
4,700 tickets sold
41% of attendees from outside East Lothian
9 farmers market producers and 7 local food suppliers showcasing produce
53% of attendees described food as high or very high quality.
Additional food and drink elements to be incorporated into core activity of future festivals
Supporting quotes:
Rebecca Salt of the Festival’s organising team says: “There’s absolutely no doubt that by developing partnerships with local food and drink suppliers and expanding our culinary offering, we were able to bring a new dimension to the Festival which tapped into the natural synergy between audiences who love books and high quality, locally-produced food and drink”.
“As well as a substantial increase in our overall numbers, customer satisfaction levels were up on the previous year and, pleasingly, the number of people travelling to the event from outside East Lothian rose by 20%, with many of those reporting that they had come to the area specifically for the Festival. This was due in no small part to the added attraction brought to the Festival by the focus on food and drink”.
