Two beautiful days of sunshine (until the Red Arrows arrived that is) and the return of the annual buzz of Weymouth Carnival as locals and tourists flocked to the sea front to enjoy the rides and displays were overshadowed today by the fury of food sellers who felt cheated and let down by the poor organisation by the carnival committee and astounded at the unprofessional and abusive confrontations with the Trade Stands organisers.
The claims made centred upon poor signposting and a lack of information and organisation for their location on the quay next to the Pavilion. Following a ‘very quiet day on Tuesday’ frustrations erupted as store holders demanded to know why so little had been done to inform locals and tourists of their presence. Unacceptable language was used on both sides as the mood darkened. In particular the carnival trades organiser Jerry Thorpe was singled out for a lack of professionalism. The general feeling was that trade stands and rides on the sea front were prioritised because of the revenue they bring and that they were not given the same courtesy. One trades person suggested that seating and music could have been organised to enable customers to sit, eat and enjoy the event.
It was also claimed that Mr Thorpe had offered to reimburse all trades at the location £100 but had now reneged on this promise. Many felt that they would not be able to balance their costs for the two days and felt that a glorious opportunity had been wasted. The consensus was that they would not be returning especially if this level of organisation was not dramatically improved. Last year they had been positioned further down towards the town bridge but stated that due to council rules they had to be moved for 2016. However, they argued that no discussion had taken place as to where the new location would be and what would be done in way of promotion.
They admitted that some lost their tempers but did not expect to be confronted with expletives in return and little recognition of the difficulties they were experiencing. Although Wednesday was busier it was no where near what they had been expecting as few people were aware of their position. We spoke to one person who had tasted some of the food and he was full of praise but stated that it was only by luck that they had come across the stalls.
Dorset Eye contacted Cllr Ryan Hope chairman of the Weymouth Carnival organising committee and he responded:
‘We are aware of a number of comments made to the media from traders at the Weymouth Carnival 2016 Food Village. In principle as we have a contractual relationship with each individual trader we will not respond to any specific comments in the media in respect of individual traders as this is totally inappropriate. We would expect individual traders to contact us formally in the first instance to notify us of their issues, and to attempt to resolve their issues.
To date no trader has formally contacted us in writing to lodge any complaint.
Traders who are not satisfied should contact us individually setting out any issues and complaints by emailing full details to [email protected] .
However we would make the following general observations:
• Siting of the food village was in accordance with restrictions laid down by the local authority.
• Weymouth Carnival and Events Committee (WCEC) did its best to promote the food village by public address announcements, the production of thousands of additional handbills, the erection of additional food village signs and details already published in the carnival programme
• Several food village outlets reported that they had sold out and levels of waste from the food village were higher than previous years indication good levels of trade.
• The behaviour of several traders in conforming with the contractual requirements they entered into was poor and this affected other traders who were fully complying with contractual requirements. (ie traders moving pitches, expanding into areas larger than their allocated pitch, blocking pedestrian areas and bringing vehicles into the food village and blocking access to other traders)
• A high number of security incidents were reported to carnival control and required the deployment of security resources and carnival management due to verbal and physically threatening behaviour by a small number of traders. This put a significant strain on the small dedicated team of Carnival volunteers who give their time to organise the food village.
• In general WCEC found that the majority of traders were reputable and professional operators throughout the period of Weymouth Carnival and we worked with those that raised any minor issues as they arose.
• A small number of traders caused problems from the moment they arrived on site, were determined to cause problems and were not willing to engage with WCEC officials to allow any attempt to resolve issues. These traders spoilt the atmosphere of the food village for visitors and other traders alike. We will not be inviting these traders to attend Weymouth Carnival again in the future.
In general the feedback from the public on Weymouth Carnival 2016 has been exceptionally positive. WCEC aims to provide a professional and well managed Carnival for the residents of Weymouth & Portland and visitors to the area and also aims to produce a financial surplus to distribute to local good causes. We believe in terms of Carnival 2016 we have fully met these objectives and are very grateful to the support of the local community, volunteers, visitors and traders who all contribute to make carnival and enjoyable and positive experience.
WCEC will not be making any further statements or comments on this matter.’
Ryan Hope Chairman Weymouth Carnival and Events Committee.
DE has attempted to provide both sides for the reader experience but as ever, the reader must ultimately decide for themselves.
