Northwest Bird Fair 2007

Whilst it was good fun to exhibit at the Bird Fair at Martin Mere again this year and to meet up with old friends and those who have previously bought prints from me, this years’ event was, overall, a bit of a disappointment for exhibitors. The event was brought forward by quite a few weeks to accommodate the filming of BBC AutumnWatch, which last year was too early for the arrival of the Whooper Swans and Bill Oddie apparently requested that they film later this year when the swans had arrived. That meant that the Bird Fair had to be brought forward into the middle of October where normally it is held in November but unfortunately it seemed that a lot of people, including WWT members, were not aware it had been moved. Visitors who came to the reserve mostly seemed unaware the event was on, with a number wandering in to enquire what was happening. There was virtually no signage, no loudspeaker announcements as in previous years or even posters in hides.

Another issue was in renaming the event to ‘International Bird Watcher’s Festival’ which seemed to have confused a lot of people, many who thought it was no longer a family event and so those who did attend were there mainly for the birds. A great shame in my opinion, as the ‘Bird Fair’ used to be a well supported event with lots of families attending, many doing some early Christmas buying and therefore making it worthwhile for those who pay out to exhibit and work all over the weekend. Many exhibitors travel across the country to be there and incur considerable costs in doing so. Unsurprisingly, many voiced their frustration and showed it by packing up early and leaving half way through Sunday.

Martin Mere will need to rethink their strategy next year I think, or they may find it won’t just be visitors not supporting the event.