Regret asfestival offorest gets the chop

Feb 9 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

THE biggest forest festival in the country, held in the North East, has been axed.

Last year saw the 14th Chopwell Forest Festival on the outskirts of Gateshead, involving more than 100 exhibitors and events.

The festival had become established as a major weekend summer fixture in the region’s calendar and attracted around 6,000 visitors.

The rustic jamboree in the 900-acre beauty spot, near High Spen, was organised by volunteers from the Friends of Chopwell Wood and the Forestry Commission.

But last night Friends spokesman Liz Searle said that the festival had outgrown itself and had become unwieldy.

It also cost £50,000 to stage, with the Friends putting in up to £10,000.

What was upsetting for the volunteers was that hundreds of people refused to pay the £5 entry fee and would use public roads into the forest to gain entry.

“It was very disheartening,” said Friends spokesman Liz Searle, who added that over the years thousands of pounds of income had been lost in this way.

Another concern was that gambling everything on one major event made it hugely vulnerable to bad weather.

Last year’s dismal July meant that the main parking field could not be used because of flooding, and accommodating the streams of cars became a major headache.

Now the Friends are considering various options, including a festival every two years or a series of smaller woodskills events, including one in August or September.

“The festival had grown like Topsy and was difficult to control and a very big job for volunteers. It had become not only bigger and bigger but not what we had started out to do,” said Liz.

Alex MacLennan, Forestry Commission recreation, communities and tourism manager, said: “The festival has had a fantastic run, but it had become such a big event, that effectively we were putting all our eggs in one basket.

“It now takes an incredible amount of organising and the fickle weather and car parking is always a consideration. We’re working with the Friends to offer more focused activities from 2009 onwards, which we think will have a broad appeal for young and old alike.”

Paul Fountain, chairman of the Friends, said: “Staging Chopwell Festival is a mammoth undertaking and it was time to take stock.

“We’ll continue to showcase wood-based crafts and skills at future events, relying on some of our brilliant local talent here in the North East.”