Night market venue change to Naylor Pavilion pays of for Orange FOOD Week

The venue for the popular event moved from Robertson to the Naylor Pavilion at Orange Showground due to wet weather.

FOOD Week chairwoman Charlotte Gundry said the general feedback from stall holders was positive and the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

"It was actually a really successful night, I think everyone actually appreciated the venue, like it is obviously not as big as the park so there's some limitations in terms of the crowd, obviously we can spread people out a bit more in the park," Ms Gundry said.

"We didn't know what was going to happen, it's always just really great when you have to make sudden changes and people still support you, and [I want to] congratulate the team, and organising committee, and stall holders for coming and pulling it off.

"We managed to fit all the stalls in, which was really exciting."

Ms Gundry said at normal night markets at Robertson Park they can get crowds of about 5000 people but the pavilion did not have that capacity.

"I think everyone had a good time and it was a really lovely atmosphere in the pavilion and given we only had two days to flip it we did pretty well, a couple of lessons to be learnt if we ever have to do that again around crowd planning and exit and entry strategies for cars and things but all in all, I think we did pretty well," she said.

"I think it is a great wet weather alternative if we ever have to do that again."

Ms Gundry said there were about 1900 pre-site sales and another 1000 to 1500 at the gate estimating that between 3000 to 3500 people attended.

"We would have definitely lost a few people with the change of location being out of town a little bit but we just couldn't get those full numbers we get on a lovely evening when lots of people just walk down the street from their homes in town so you do actually lose that CBD traffic I think," she said.

"We did run a shuttle bus, we didn't know how that was going to go because we only had 24-hours really to promote it but that was really well utilised.

"We only put one bus on because we thought, well let's not overestimate how many people will use it but lets make sure that if we can get full buses in and out then that would be worth our while but also a good thing for the customers to come out on the coach and into town and then catch a cab from the rank in town, or walk home or whatever they need to do.

"That shuttle bus option if we need to we can build on and gives people the flexibility to have a couple of glasses of wine and feeling relaxed about getting back into town and getting home safely."

Ms Gundry said the Samson Street Long Lunch was also a success on Saturday.

"It's always been good but I think every year we kind of lift a little but more and do some other things," she said.

"This year we had a new contingent of chefs involved, which was really great because they really grabbed hold of it and just were pumped by being involved and that's what we want, we are trying to create these events so we provide platforms for chefs to cook for the region and get involved."

Ms Gundry said there were 300 people at the Long Lunch and tickets sold out quickly in January and a number of people contacted the FOOD Week committee this week wanting tickets.

She was particularly grateful to the Sampson Street residents who allowed the organisers to close the street for several hours in the day and they will continue to hold the event for as long as the residents are willing to put up with it.

"We always make sure we keep tickets aside if residents would like them, even to the death nail, if people get in contact with us we will always accommodate a resident who would like to come along," she said.

The next big event will be Forage next Saturday but in the meantime Shine the Light on the Producer events will run daily at the CWA Hall in Robertson Park.

"We've still got tickets available for those if people are interested in doing something in the morning and meeting some of our local producers and sampling a bit of their product then there's an opportunity to do that," she said.

The FOOD Train is also running this week with 37 guests set to arrive on Friday.

"They've got a two-and-a-half-day trip around the region, they are going to Carcoar, Forage, Producer's Market ... they are getting a real experience across the region," Ms Gundry said.

FOOD Week will wrap up with the Sunday producers market at Cook Park.

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