bigAPE

11 Jun 2008, 07:11 PM

I wonder if anyone took any photos?

Gill

missiemo

11 Jun 2008, 07:24 PM

bigAPE

11 Jun 2008, 07:11 PM

I wonder if anyone took any photos?

Gill

Now that's a thought Gill, would be handy :yeap:

jond

11 Jun 2008, 08:01 PM

missiemo

11 Jun 2008, 07:24 PM

bigAPE

11 Jun 2008, 07:11 PM

I wonder if anyone took any photos?

Gill

Now that's a thought Gill, would be handy :yeap:

Handy for what?

bigAPE

11 Jun 2008, 08:16 PM

I was reading through the complaints on BritishExpats and thought that they might be interested in reading what others thought about the event. So I posted a message and a link to this discussion (note that we have one to theirs) and the Mods deleted it saying it was "Advertising"! Unreal :realmad:

They really are up their own arse aren't they. Perhaps we should ban all mention of other forums :dur:

Al

Melbourne bound Mark

10 Jun 2008, 01:19 PM

Hello,

we didn't go to the UK fest. But by the sounds of it the organisers should be congratualted!

People have obviously forgotten what the UK is actually like and having been in Australia only for 6 months then by the sounds of it I don't know how such an authentic British style event was so well replicated over here where usually these sort of things run so smoothly.

The attention to detail in making the beer run out can only be applauded and only one of two options that the organisers had - the other being to turn it into a cheap tacky beerfest and allow the crowd to become unruly and end it all off with a huge fight!

Can't wait to sign up for next year as it will be a cheaper way of reminding me why I chose to move to Australia rather than having to stump up for an air fare and endure 48 hours of travelling!

"Peninsula Events"

 

In reply to your feedback, we would like to offer our most
sincere apologies for any disappointment you experienced with Ukfest over
the long weekend, as this was ‘in no way’ our intention.

In regards to the ‘Overall’ Value for Money for the days Entertainment
Program

We feel (being the 1st year) that we did our best to provide the best value
entertainment program possible (as listed below), for the budget we had
available based on a pre-sale ticket price of only $15 for adults & $5 for
children. In terms of what Entertainment was included in this price at
various times throughout the 6 hour day, please read the following which
appeared as per programmed.....

The Main Stage (indoors) featured …
-Billy & Bushy Live
-Morris Dancers
-DJ’s Playing Great British Anthems from the 60's, 70's & 80’s
-The Substitutes (One of Melbourne’s Best 60's British Cover Bands) ‘LIVE’
-Live Comedy & British Celebrity Impersonations from Comedian & Gold fm DJ
'Ben Price'
-Competitions, Crowd Giveaways & more

The Three Lions 'Pub' featured ...
-British Beers, Wine, Spirits & Soft drinks
-Fish 'N' Chips
-Bar Snacks
-Ukfest Merchandise
-And for anyone willing to give it a go we also had a Traditional British
Pub Quiz, Karaoke Machine, Darts Board & Dominos

Outdoors
-Penalty Shootout
-Rugby World Cup Game
-Morris Dancers
-Nick Nicholas 'Magic Show'
-Kids games with the Town Crier

It is ok to say the event was a shambles and rip off but that is not
constructive critism that is going to help anybody
It is not nice to recieve an email like this from anyone and we hope that
regardless of your disappointment,
you can understand that the sole reason for us creating Ukfest (above all)
was to provide a platform
that would help bring the local British community together to enjoy a day of
traditional British, food, drink & entertainment with family & friends and
if this is something you didn’t experience, this is something we are
genuinely sorry for

Kindest Regards
Paul Harvey
Managing Director
Peninsula Events Australia

bigAPE

11 Jun 2008, 08:16 PM

I was reading through the complaints on BritishExpats and thought that they might be interested in reading what others thought about the event. So I posted a message and a link to this discussion (note that we have one to theirs) and the Mods deleted it saying it was "Advertising"! Unreal :realmad:

They really are up their own arse aren't they. Perhaps we should ban all mention of other forums :dur:

Al

bigAPE

11 Jun 2008, 07:38 AM

So, to sum up the comments from the various forums

• 
  
• $20-$25 ticket price paid
  
• A fee to park your car
  
• $8 for a beer
  
• The "Three Lions Bar" was a hole in the wall, not the advertisited
  
• 2-3 stalls selling products "from the UK" (were these from the "Treats From Home" type shops or just a heap of stuff shipped in for the event?)
  
• Then NAB bank selling accounts to Poms (did they have to pay to have a stall?)
  
• A Property Developer trying to flog new homes to Poms (did they have to pay to have a stall?)
  
• Best of British food was mostly curry (well they got that right)
  
• The Pub and Quiz other games didn't happen
  
• Morris Dancers
  
• People who complained and asked for a refund were laughed at and man handled by security
  
• Questions about where the money raised is going

I must say that when this was all first mentioned we both looked at each other and asked why this is a ticketed event. Most things like this that are run in Melbourne are paid for by sponsorship and by the vendors that have stalls. They are generally not something you pay to get into.

Al

Alan

25 Jun 2008, 04:07 PM

The local British Australian Community had two or three very big BritFests before rising public liability insurance costs stopped them. There were dozens of stalls, loads of British food, and lots of varied entertainment. There are a couple of photos at: http://www.geocities.com/endeavour_uksa/brit2000.html