The Sewing Place

Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?

Kitten

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #30 on: July 29, 2021, 14:13:20 PM »
Hi @Iminei I'm now not going :'(  I just don't feel that confident being in big crowds yet.  But am still wishing I was there today.
I did let @Sheilago know last week.

Iminei

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #31 on: July 29, 2021, 21:13:03 PM »
I think a lot of people feel the same ... Im not in the Brum TV area ... Do they cover Festival @Sandra @Pearl  ???

Would be interesting to see how Festival is this year ??? Take up, Traders, etc

Maybe next year?!
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Iminei

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #32 on: July 29, 2021, 21:22:24 PM »
After the bargain offer price of £11.50 (or was it £13.50, I cant remember) offered a month ago, the prices remained static at £17.50 (!!!!!)  so Sales couldnt have been so bad!

I too am very interested in the How, Where, Why etc

I know @Deafoldbat  and Elvistoo have entered a quilt and am hoping that Deaf takes some good pics of it for us.
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Sandra

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #33 on: July 29, 2021, 21:50:14 PM »
@Iminei  I don't think so but I've never made a a habit of faithfully watching the local news.  -<

Feel a little bit sorry to not be going this year but at the same time I think it might be a bit disappointing to have many of the regular stands missing.

Hope it's back to normal next year.

Sandra.
xxx

Bjay

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #34 on: July 29, 2021, 22:07:22 PM »
@Iminei It was covered on Midlands Today - pictures and interviews. An extra hall to make more space for moving around, restricted numbers, wider corridprs between stalls.
Didn't look that busy - usual quilt display and some stands said it was just like bfore!
« Last Edit: July 29, 2021, 22:09:26 PM by Bjay »
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StitchinTime

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #35 on: July 29, 2021, 22:19:21 PM »
Thanks for that info, @Bjay. The Midlands Today news item is available on iPlayer - it starts at about 7 minutes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ybf7/midlands-today-evening-news-29072021
« Last Edit: July 29, 2021, 22:21:50 PM by StitchinTime »

Lowena

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #36 on: July 29, 2021, 22:44:20 PM »
Judging by the pictures on Facebook there are not many selling stands. Loads of big names have pulled out apparently.
Triumph of hope over experience :D

Lowena

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #37 on: July 29, 2021, 22:47:06 PM »
Looked to lack atmosphere judging by the pictures on Facebook. Far fewer stands and people rattling around.
Triumph of hope over experience :D

RJR_38

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #38 on: July 30, 2021, 06:53:33 AM »
I went yesterday and still enjoyed it.

Pros:

Much more space, aisles much wider so there was space to actually look, browse and shop this year!

No queues for the toilets and less queuing for food

The quilts were as good as always and you had a lot more space to view them. Some had been sent over from Europe as well.

Cons:

Less stalls than usual. Some of the big names were missing which I thought would disappoint me but actually it meant I spent more time at ‘medium sized’ businesses and spent more money overall!

No specialist stalls from abroad (obviously) and less variety generally eg there are normally stands selling ribbons or bag hardware but none of that.


I happened to sit near the exhibitor lunch area and overheard some interesting conversations between them about one of the bigger companies in particular who didn’t go when they realised the Europeans wouldn’t be coming over as they are the big spenders apparently - us Brits aren’t worthwhile…. Which is interesting!!


RJR_38

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #39 on: July 30, 2021, 06:56:24 AM »
I posted in the other thread @Lowena - yes some of the big names were missing but I actually think it was better overall as it gave the smaller businesses a chance and I have new places to look online now as a result!

I have definitely fallen into the habit of defaulting to the same few companies who actually aren’t always the best value

Iminei

Re: FESTIVAL OF QUILTS 2021.... Tickets
« Reply #40 on: July 30, 2021, 09:26:54 AM »
Im going to merge the two threads peeps Ok?????

Thanks very much for that link ... interesting!
« Last Edit: July 30, 2021, 09:30:46 AM by Iminei »
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Diane

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #41 on: July 30, 2021, 14:38:19 PM »
I've never been but now i've seen that clip i definitely want to go next year, will have to butter up DH to share the driving up there.
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StitchinTime

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #42 on: July 31, 2021, 20:28:16 PM »
I went to Festival of Quilts today and to nearly quote Bjork, it was oh so quiet.

The first sign that this year was going to different was that with the earlier opening time and staggered admissions, I wasn’t able to play the usual “spot the quilter” on the train or at the stations. My free ticket was valid for entry after 11am and train times meant I got to the NEC about 10.15am which gave me time to get a coffee beforehand. I’d finished my coffee by 10.45am and there was no problem in getting in early.

I’ve mentioned earlier that going by the list on the website, exhibitor numbers seemed reduced by about 50% and I think the number of competition quilts were reduced by a similar amount. With all the extra space it was difficult to gauge how visitor numbers compared to previous years, but one thing that was noticeable was the lack of a “hubbub” about the place.

It was much easier to move around the stands and many of the exhibitors had time to answer questions about their products and chat about the show in general. One of the smaller traders mentioned that the lack of some of the “big names” had been beneficial as people who would normally head to the names were buying from them instead.

I didn’t particularly “need” anything, but there were a few things that were on my ”would be useful or nice to have” list. Unfortunately with the reduced retail offering, I didn’t spot any of them. However, I didn’t come away empty handed, including getting some bargain (£5 for 2.5m!) John Kaldor jersey fabric for dress making from the Project Linus stand.

It was a different, but enjoyable experience this year, but I kept waiting for the crowds to appear - all day it had the feeling of being the last hour of the show when everyone starts heading home.

Iminei

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #43 on: July 31, 2021, 22:13:55 PM »
Thanks for that @StitchinTime  ... very interesting!
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Iminei

Re: Festival of Quilts 2021 - better, worse or just different?
« Reply #44 on: August 01, 2021, 05:37:15 AM »
FFS!!!

Just got an email saying theres still time to buy tickets ... at a discount methought ,so I went through the motions ...

£19.00 !!!!  :faints:

I kid you not!
The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again