Savour the Flavour - Q & A's

What was the purpose of this event?

Savour the Flavour Hawkesbury supports local primary producers and local businesses that use Hawkesbury-grown product in their food preparations. Supporting these businesses is a valuable step in not just growing our region’s profile, but also aiding our recovery from four years of bushfire, COVID and six floods.

It also promotes the Hawkesbury beyond its borders as a destination of choice to help generate tourism and business.

Who created the event?

The event was created and managed by two event staff working for Hawkesbury City Council.

Why was it held at Richmond Park?

Richmond was chosen as the venue for Savour the Flavour Hawkesbury to activate this important town centre and provide Richmond businesses and residents with their own annual family-friendly celebration. Richmond Park is a beautiful venue and the largest of its kind in Richmond. It is ideally located close to other businesses, public transport and access by road.

Why was this time and day chosen?

We chose to hold this event on a Saturday afternoon/evening to make it convenient for people to travel from regional areas to visit, and to ensure that it wasn’t held in the heat of the day as hot days in October are not uncommon. Council is hoping to expand the hours at future events in line with demand and available budget.

Why was it fenced?

In line with the requirements of our liquor license, Savour the Flavour Hawkesbury was fenced. Consideration was given to only fencing the areas where liquor was sold, however this would have created an alcohol-only space which would have closed access off to families with children.

Why was it held in such a small space?

Due to flooding less than a week earlier creating very damp and muddy areas within the park, Hawkesbury City Council was faced with the decision to cancel the event for a fourth time or to hold it in a smaller space that was unaffected by flood. The original event space was planned to be much larger.

Events of this size are also costly to run and Savour the Flavour – like all our events – runs to a carefully controlled budget that pays for fencing, equipment, power generation, activities, contractors and promotion. Council is looking to expand the size of the event for future events in line with demand and available budget.

Why was the event so crowded?

Savour the Flavour Hawkesbury was a first-time event and proved to be far more popular and successful than we expected. Council planned the event with the expectation that a maximum of 5000 people would attend the event across the four hours. We estimate that 7500 people attended, with many arriving on or prior to opening, leading to crowding issues. While we are overjoyed by the response, we understand that this popularity came with its own set of challenges in terms of crowds.

Why couldn’t the event be held on the oval?

Richmond Park is a heritage-listed location. Trucks and vehicles are not permitted on the playing surface in order to protect the cricket pitch and irrigation system. The oval was utilised during the event as a picnic space.

Why weren’t there more stalls?

Invitations to the event were extended to all local primary producers and related local food businesses via a number of channels. All prospective stallholders that met this criteria were accepted. We are confident that more stallholders will sign on to be involved in next year’s event.

Why wasn’t there more food?

Stallholders were responsible for the provision and stock levels of their own product, and like Council, were pleasantly surprised by the popularity of the event.

Why were dogs not allowed?

In line with other similar food events, dogs were not permitted due to the following reasons:

• The service of food
• The service of alcohol
• The risk of glass breakage causing injury to dogs
• The risk of dogs and leads being a trip hazard in a crowded area
• The risk of a large crowd proving to be too stimulating and stressful for dog

Why spend money on holding this event instead of repairing local roads?

Local road repairs are all fully-funded by the NSW Government’s infrastructure recovery funding program. Delays to road repairs following the six floods since 2020 are being caused due to an acute unavailability of qualified contractors and road construction/repair materials. Cancelling this event would have not had any impact on timelines for repairing local roads, and would have robbed Hawkesbury businesses of valuable business.