Festival of the Countryside
The Festival is a partnership
initiative in the development and promotion of green tourism in rural Wales. Its
main aims are:
- environmental education: to convey, in an interesting and
coherent way, the messages of the countryside and of conservation;
- enjoyment of the countryside: to satisfy the varied
recreational needs of residents and visitors; and
- stimulation of the rural economy and support for providers of
rural attractions.
There are 15 more
detailed objectives or actions:
- improving access to the countryside whilst protecting the
most sensitive and fragile areas of rural Wales;
- increasing public awareness of natural history, rural issues,
and historical and cultural dimensions of rural Wales;
- putting agriculture and other rural industries in context and
encouraging the purchase and use of rural foods and crafts;
- encouraging the use of public transport;
- creating jobs and economic benefit;
- providing a single, comprehensive and integrated programme of
events, activities and attractions in rural Wales;
- involving a wide range of organisations, groups and
individuals in the development, planning, delivery and review of the
programme;
- bringing in well-known personalities to boost local events
and maintain a high profile for the festival as a whole;
- promoting environmental education through walks, talks,
lectures, exhibitions and other means;
- encouraging the establishment of local festivals as part of
the main programme;
- promoting participation in environmentally acceptable
sports;
- providing publicity and public relations support to event
organisers;
- acting as a funding broker, identifying and providing
grant-aid, fees and other sources of income where possible;
- providing professional support and back-up to event
organisers; and
- stimulating a range of related publications, including
leaflets, booklets, catalogues and books.
The initiative was launched in 1985 as a contribution to the World
Conservation Strategy, under the direction of CYNEFIN, a Welsh Conservation
Foundation. It is now managed by Festival of the Countryside Gwyl Cefn Gwlad
Cyf.
The main partners are the Countryside Council
for Wales, Wales Tourist Board, national parks and local authorities, wildlife
trusts. amenity organisations and community groups, along with a large number of
individual local operators and small tourism businesses. A small central team
directly organises key events, identifies opportunities for innovation, and
works with others to develop and establish new events. It also pulls together
and markets the overall programme through the publication of a main and winter
guide which lists and keys out all the activities. The team provides a
year-round support and advisory service. Numerous community generated events
have been established over the years, including a farming festival, conservation
and crafts fair, village exhibition, walks and talks programmes and rural arts
events. One of the main problems encountered has been continuity of funding, but
successful ERDF bids in 1994 and 1998 and extension of the Festival to include
the whole of the Rural Wales Objective 5b area has given it a sounder financial
footing.
The Festival has been presented as a case
study at a number of European conferences and is included in the
Manual of Heritage Management, published by
Butterworth-Heinemann in 1994. Its flexible approach makes it applicable to a
wide range of other areas, working as it does with the local environment and the
people who live there.
Over 14 years, the Festival
of the Countryside has built up a body of expertise and experience in the area
of green tourism, or responsible rural tourism. Its small central team has
experience of:
- directly organising key events;
- identifying opportunities for innovation;
- working with others to develop and establish new
events;
- pulling together and marketing the overall programme;
and
- providing a year-round support and advisory
service.
In addition to building up the
programme to include over 1000 events/attractions/activities which convey the
natural beauty and sense of place of rural Wales, the team also works closely
with agencies and operators in developing the region's tourism economy. The
Festival has been a central contributor to the
Sustainable Tourism Strategy for Mid Wales
.
Outside consultancy has included the
production of a coastal tourism marketing plan for the West Wales Task Force,
research and editing of Who's Who in the Environment:
Wales, as well as contributing to numerous international
seminars and conferences, including one sponsored by DGXXIII of the European
Commission on EUROTOURISM: Culture and Countryside, held in Athens on 27-28 May
1994.
The Festival publishes
two yearly guides, which are distributed to
Tourist Offices and other organisations and is also the author of a publication
'
Animating Rural Tourism'
.
The Festival has strong working links
with other green tourism initiative in the UK, is a trans-national partner in a
tourism ecolabelling initiative being piloted by NASC in the West of Ireland,
and has contacts with other European organisations such as the Instituto de
Desarollo Comunitario de Galicia and Gites de France in
Brittany.
Information
Source
Prepared by ...
Festival of the Countryside
23
Frolic Street, Newtown, Powys, Wales,
UK, SY16 1AP
Telephone
+44 1686 625384 Facsimile
+44 1686 629556
E-Mail
[email protected] Web URL
http://www.wiss.co.uk/foc/
Commercial Details
Any other Information
General advice free of charge; consultancy fee for detailed
work