Member Article

Leeds Food and Drink Festival brings "significant" economic benefit to city after record footfall

Footfall figures for Leeds Food and Drink Festival have been released today, indicating the significant economic impact it has brought to the city.

More than 200 Leeds-based food and drink businesses took part, raising their profile on a regional and national level and benefiting from increased business as a direct result.

The packed menu of events at the 17-day festival saw city centre footfall figures increase by 2.7% on last year, bringing more visitors to Leeds than the eight previous food festivals

Attendance on two days of the three-day festival finale were at an all-time high. In total, almost 46,000 people attended the Yorkshire Food and Drink Show at Millennium Square, 15,300 of which were on the traditionally quietest day of Friday, while almost 21,500 went along on the Sunday.

Over 30 events took place across the city during the two week period, including pop up supper club the Pink Shed, World Feast, Handmade in Yorkshire, Kirkstall Deli Market and Veg Out.

Deborah Copeland, director of Marketing at Leeds and Partners, said: “We’re thrilled to have achieved record numbers for the festival this year, and once again it’s brought a huge boost to the city, increasing footfall and showcasing what we can offer to a national audience.

“We’ve always been lucky with the weather in the past, so while rain brought overall numbers for the finale weekend down slightly, it certainly didn’t dampen spirits and the atmosphere was fantastic throughout.

“Feedback from businesses has been excellent and we look forward to building on this year’s successes to ensure that the Leeds Food and Drink Festival continues to grow in 2015 and beyond.

“We would like to extend our thanks to our headline sponsor Asda for their continued support, as well as the growing numbers of stakeholders including the Yorkshire Post, Trinity Leeds, Leeds Markets and Heart FM that help us deliver such a fantastic city-wide festival.”

Paul Smith, marketing manager at Trinity, added: “Taking part in the Leeds Food and Drink Festival was a no brainer for Trinity Leeds.

“The city has such a vibrant and exciting offer and the collaboration between food and drink retailers and the organisers was great to be a part of. It’s important for Leeds to be promoting our dining credentials through such a large-scale festival.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .