Singleton Park Swansea Bay Swansea reviews by real event-goers

Review of Swansea Food Fest

So very disappointed with this event. Very poor compared to the summer street food pop up. Lack of seating and cover from weather, lack of expected artisan food sellers , hefty entry price for very little.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Terrible, wouldn't go back. Advertised as family friendly, but all the kids stuff cost extra. No food tasters, just food n drink vans.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Fun time had by all,really enjoyed the music and some if the food stalls.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

This would be an amazing event if it was free entry.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

A brilliant event! All the bands were fantastic throughout the day. There was loads of choice for food and drinks on site. The talks and presentations were great, really enjoyable, entertaining and informative. I've never had the opportunity to see so many big names in the food industry, all in one place before. We had the family ticket for the full weekend, and there was something for all of us.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Absolutely terrible! £20 per ticket, a handful of overpriced food vans, few places to sit...which were needed especially as the ground was wet and 4 kids rides, hardly a family day out and certainly couldn't be called a food festival, compared with the food festivals enjoyed in Cardiff, what a joke.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

£20 was a rip off. Limited food stalls. Not enough seating under cover as it was raining. Would not go again and wouldn't recommend for the price. Other food festivals much cheaper entry and much better.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Extremely disappointed with Swansea 'Food Fest' - very poorly organised, extremely overpriced tickets! This event was advertised as up to 10,000 in attendance but there was no more than 1000 attendees over the two days the event was held. I personally spoke to a few of the vendors who made me aware that they would have quite a substantial amount of excess perishable stock and as a result would be losing money rather than making any. In summary I feel as though the organisers were greedy and completed mis-sold the event to the attendees and the stall holders. I personally hope that the organisers are already making plans to reimburse the poor traders for the cost of their pitches. The whole thing was an absolute shambles in my opinion.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

The advertising about what was available for children was misleading and what was there was extortionately priced! £3 per person for a ride on teacups where my child can't ride alone- Its insane to consider anyone will pay £6 for a 2min teacup ride. And what was available was rubbish! The free event days held by Swansea had more for kids and that's free.... Not the rediculous ticket price I paid.

In general not much do or see and really expensive. The margam festival is better.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

My wife and I attended the Swansea Food Festival yesterday at Singleton Park. We have in the past attended innumerable food festivals and are used to well organised events of a high quality. We however left the Singleton Park site feeling both incredibly frustrated and disappointed on a number of levels.
The event was advertised as a food festival, but it certainly was not. The size of the event and number of food vendors and exhibitors present was pitiful and certainly did not warrant the entry fee. Furthermore, a significant number food vendors were inferior, mostly selling unhealthy fast food, which would be of no interest to regular food festival attendees.
An event that is advertised as a Food Festival with a high entry cost and demonstrations by Michelin star chefs present, would expect to attract foodies and those who enjoy cooking and who would be interested in food related products. ie gadgets, knives, cooking utensils and ingredients etc. In reality there was donuts, brownies and fast food!
Organisationally it was a poor event, despite a significant number of staff onsite. We were the first members of the public to arrive this morning and toilets had not even been cleaned!
Furthermore, upon arrival, no-one notified attendees of the requirement to register for cooking demonstrations/wine tasting. When eventually attempting to book, we were only advised that they had to limit numbers due to issues encountered yesterday.
Vendors also were complaining about the poor organisation of the event and expressed dissatisfaction that it was not functioning as a true food festival.

We offered our feedback onsite and mentioned our disappointment that you literally could walk around the site in 20 mins and there was nothing to do once you had done that! We were told there was music to sit and listen too. Fair enough but we had paid to attend a Food Festival. We could have attended any number of Music Festivals this weekend!
In conclusion, we feel that the nature and scale of the event was misrepresented in the advertising and we were not the only attendees today who left frustrated and disappointed.
For us James Sommerin and Nathan Davies saved the day but we would be surprised if they returned to such a poor organised and unprofessional event.

We hope you will take on board this feedback, as we are representative of many of the attendees who are serious about food, who attended today.

I have forwarded a copy of this review to the Tourism Team at the City & County of Swansea for consideration.

Regards

David Richards

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Callum Beattie was amazing and other singers excellent . Fantastic atmosphere family’s all enjoying xxx

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Great food, great atmosphere and music was brilliant

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Family friendly, with great live music!
More covered seating areas needed, due to inclement weather.
Food & drink a bit over priced for what you get. Families should be allowed to take there own food & drink.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Very over priced as an entrance fee food was not up to much and most things we wanted had run out sat through the au vodka talk and taste they run out of vodka before the end of the queue so no tasting, the music was hit and miss spent most of the time listening to each performance sound testing before coming on there was no atmosphere there at all most definitely won’t be going again

Review of Swansea Food Fest

This was an ill-conceived event, where it was clear that the greed of the organisers destroyed the event before it started. I attended on the Saturday, and although the weather had been patchy earlier in the day, it was evident that the £20 standard entrance fee had been a deterrent due to the underwhelming turnout. I had the misfortune of buying VIP tickets for myself and my wife @ £50 each, only to realise on arrival that the extra £30 meant a free drink and the ability to sit the other side of a white picket fence. The exhibitors that we spoke to were also unimpressed with the turnout for which they presumably would have paid a substantial amount for their pitch there. Considering the event was labelled as Swansea Food Fest, it was ironic that the bars and drinks trailers outnumbered that of the “food”. The kicker was the txt I received from the organisers late on Saturday night offering me a ticket for Sunday at the bargain price of £5!!! (No thank you). What were they going to do for the people who had paid £40 for a weekend ticket - offer them a refund of £15 for the Sunday?? I dare say the £5 ticket was an attempt to rescue what was going to be a poorly attended Sunday. By far the worst event I’ve been to in Swansea….

Review of Swansea Food Fest

The whole experience was poor. Very few stalls. Not anticipated or accommodated for rain.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Tickets were really expensive for what was there. Not quite sure why you have to have tickets at all. Attractions really limited, not a great choice of food, 1 small tent with demos, food trucks and a band stage. I understand the weather was bad, but once you have eaten there is really nothing else to keep your attention. Music was uninspired, just covers in the afternoon. I really hate leaving bad reviews but it really was a disappointment. I wouldn't go again if it was free. The ticket price is way over the top, its like paying to go to your local takeaway.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

We did enjoy but I was a bit disappointed with the lack of stalls if I’m honest. Was expecting a bit more variety and didn’t actually have a chance to buy anything! Some seating near the stage would have been nice too. I’m not sure I would ever pay the full £20 ticket entry fee but we did purchase the early bird tickets for £12.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

I thought the cost of entry was overpriced. We expected more free tasters or at least more reasonable prices from the vendors given the entry fee. I didn’t meet a street food vendor who seemed remotely interested or passionate about their product. Also this was predominantly a street food festival, but I don’t think it was advertised as such. I expected a wider range of vendors, with the opportunity to buy gifts/products to take home. Alas unless it was one of yesterday’s donuts or brownies you were out of luck. Where was the cheese? The charcuterie? The local honey? The local producers?
The set up was great, as was the live music. But it was evident the entry fee had put off the crowds and the atmosphere was lacking somewhat. Surely the vendors would make more money charging slightly less and selling more. How many attendees fancied some churros but shook their heads in disbelief at the price. £8 for what is essentially a bag of dinky donuts.
In fairness the live demo we attended was excellent. But I did wonder if that would have been better sold separately.
All in all I would not pay £40 for a couple to attend again.

Review of Swansea Food Fest

Excellent festival. Plenty of different foods to meet everyone's choices. The music was really good & it had a great atmosphere