I don’t think the word recession was mentioned once over the bank holiday weekend and boy was this welcome! Kilkenny was like a little sunny planet in the midst of all the misery, during the Savour Kilkenny, Rockfall and Conker festivals which had people flocking to Kilkenny in droves for the holiday weekend.
Kilkenny city was flooded in sunlight and the Parade Plaza was flooded with thousands of people who came out to taste the culinary delights that were available from the 60 tents in the tented village. There was a great buzz around, people were spending money!!! And this excitement was reflected down along the High St, Rose Inn Street, John Street and into MacDonagh Junction throughout the weekend. Business was booming! And there is a lesson in this for every business person in town — open up your doors on a Sunday and compete with those that you give out about in other parts of the city, rather than moan! Business people now need to work harder to get custom and if this means opening on a Sunday, well so be it — a business has gotta do, what a business has to do, to stay competitive and afloat in this climate. Any business that opened on Sunday and Monday last weekend creamed off the festival atmosphere that was around the city including shops, cafes, restaurants and bars.
However, this was a special weekend and there is no denying that. The Savour Kilkenny people should be congratulated for their efforts, as the event was a huge success. It drew huge crowds and everyone benefited and had fun — the recession was temporarily forgotten.
And some great news is that it is likely to be repeated again come Christmas time. As our front page story tells, there are plans in the pipeline for a Christmas fair for the Parade Plaza which would include children’s entertainment, Christmas markets and food and hot drinks stalls. The council is hopeful that following discussions with interested parties that they will have an announcement on this, in coming weeks.
It would be a most welcome development as in recent times we have been losing shoppers and tourists to other parts of the country who have dealt with the festive season a little better than we have here in Kilkenny. Ice rink plans have been scuppered in the past and until now the Parade was not a suitable location for outdoor events. Now we have a stunning amenity that is only looking for activity! And hopefully this Christmas we will see an imposing Christmas tree, lots of lights, decorations and most importantly seasonal events such as Christmas markets and entertainment on the Parade Plaza. Savour Kilkenny has illustrated that this can be done, and be done well and in a manner that benefits both traders and consumers.
High Street traders should also get involved and book a stall in a Christmas market and get their goods out there. The old ways of doing business don’t cut it anymore and business people need to use their heads to ensure survival. No reversal of a one-way system will improve business. Business people need to make efforts to get their products out there and make them competitive and attractive to customers. It doesn’t really matter which way the traffic is flowing. It appears that there will be congestion in both directions on the High Street from now on, instead of just one way! How is this beneficial to business or shoppers in our city?
