Clitheroe Food Festival Case Study

Clitheroe Food Festival Introduction

A resplendent celebration of all things Lancashire food, the Clitheroe Food Festival is the epitome of everything culinary. From pies and produce directly from Lancastrian farms, through to tastes from far-flung corners of the world, the yearly festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors, with 2024’s seeing record attendance figures.

Held on the 2^nd weekend of August, the streets of Clitheroe are bedecked by stalls, with throngs of visitors and food enthusiasts sampling all the delights the streets can squeeze in. From treats to satisfy even the sweetest tooth, to locally line-caught fish and seafood, the festival caters to each one of its diverse attendees and exhibitors.

It’s a fitting crown on the week-long Ribble Valley Taste Fest, and brings with it additional benefits that go far beyond the gastronomic delights. Local businesses and community ventures share in the spoils, with the latest iteration of Clitheroe Food Festival providing a much-needed cash injection into the area.

The Challenge

Naturally, with such a massive amount of footfall, stalls and the winding streets of Clitheroe to contend with, there’s understandable concerns for security. With early estimates for attendance already sat at the 20,000 mark, the festival faced an uphill battle in ensuring the safety of attendees, exhibitors and guests on the day.

A festival of this magnitude isn’t immediately set up, either, and the preparation phase would need to be kept secure in those early stages. Couple that with Clitheroe’s existing popularity and its close proximity to the ever-popular Forest of Bowland area, and it’s abundantly clear why security was of paramount concern for the organisers.

Alcohol is also an integral part of festivals like these, with distilleries and independent businesses unsurprisingly keen to showcase their wares and innovations. Of course, that brings with it a new set of challenges, and security quickly takes on an upper echelon of importance as alcoholic beverages are added to the mix.

The Solution

With the Clitheroe Food Festival reaching out well ahead of time in April, ProFM Group were able to truly build a tailor-made solution that matched with the stringent demands of the festival itself. We’d got extensive experience already, having provided our trademark levels of security across several other projects under Ribble Valley’s jurisdiction.

With the advance notice, our security actually began long before the event on the Saturday 10^th August, with our overnight officers providing vital security during the festival setup phases on Thursday 8^th and Friday 9^th August.

We went a cut above our competitors, providing fully SG-licenced officers as standard for the main complement of our security services. That was in addition to our Door Supervisory officers, who were able to monitor bar areas to ensure consummate safety throughout.

We also provided a Supervisor to oversee our security teams, as well as a dedicated Manager who – with guidance from our National Events and Projects Manager – coordinated the efforts of the extensive team to ensure that the event went off without a hitch.

The Result

Ultimately, while we’re proud to have been afforded the opportunity to deliver our well-established levels of quality to an infamous event in our local area, the main focus was ensuring a smooth event and an enjoyable experience for all involved.

We’re delighted to say that that the event was a roaring success, with more than 25,000 people basking in the summer sunshine and enjoying the heady aromas and tantalising tastes that the Clitheroe Food Festival offers. That attendance was substantially higher than the expected 20,000, and we’re privileged to have played a role in ensuring the festival could thrive and grow.

Guests arrived and left seamlessly, crowds were able to move freely and survey the wealth of stalls, and our security officers oversaw an event that truly brought the people of the Ribble Valley and beyond together.

The festival received extensive local press coverage, and the reviews continue to pour in for what’s undoubtedly brought a world of flavour, frivolity and festivity to the Clitheroe streets. With an eye to the future, the event is only set to expand and bring in more adventurous palates as we head into 2025.

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