Exactly a year ago, I wrote about my disappointment in seeing the Dundee Flower and Food Festival on the verge of getting the chop.
Since writing that, the festival did indeed get the axe and it was sad to learn that there would be no return for this much-loved festival.
However, we have since received an update from Dundee City Council on the replacement event with plans for it to be hosted later this year in the city centre.
This was announced last year too, and I remember being sceptical of a replacement event, but the idea has grown on me since then.
The new festival, provisionally titled the Dundee Food for Thought Festival, is effectively a reboot of the Flower and Food Festival, with the addition of sustainability being a major theme of it.
Hosting the festival in the city centre actually makes a lot of sense, because it is a more central location, and allows people to get to the event more easily.
There were a few comments from people who were disappointed in the fact that the new event would not be hosted in Camperdown Park – and although it would be great for the festival to be held there, it is realistically, at the moment, not viable as a location.
I think its fair to say that we should test the waters to see if this event is a success or not when it hopefully comes to fruition later on in the year.
Dundee Christmas programme was lacklustre
I have to say that Dundee City Council need to be more serious when it comes to hosting events. We have seen a better direction from them following the major success in hosting BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend last May – they did amazing at that.
I say that they should be more serious because when I posted about the proposed festival, there was a significant amount of Dundonians who voiced their doubts on whether an event like this would actually take place – and they have a point.
Christmas is a good example of the disappointment Dundonians faced, when just last month, Winterfest decided not to even operate in the city and instead we got a replacement Christmas event from the council in the City Square which was met with mixed opinions. In my own opinion, it was pretty lacklustre.
Dundonians instead opted to go to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth to enjoy Christmas. I hope we can build back better for Christmas this year. We should be bringing people in, not driving them away.
On the other hand, the majority of Dundonians are pretty excited about the prospect of a food and drinks festival. There seems to be an appetite for it among the people of Dundee.
I hope this new event comes to fruition and, judging by Dundee’s path towards becoming a more sustainable city, now is the perfect time to bring an event that I hope honours the legacy of the Flower and Food Festival.
I said last year that the Dundee Flower and Food Festival can come back stronger – looking now, I believe it can, and it will – just in a new form.
