This year’s Southport Food and Drink Festival really whet the appetite of the public with data released today showing it attracted bumper crowds and generated almost £900K for the local economy.
Around 40,000 people flocked to the tasty annual extravaganza at Victoria Park which allowed visitors to enjoy three days of “tasty treats and activities” from around 150 traders, producers and exhibitors between Friday, May 30 and Sunday, June 1.
The 2025 event not only offered foods from across the globe, family-friendly fun activities but a new Experience Marquee giving people the chance to sign up for special experiences such as cheese and wine and beer and whisky tasting and cake decorating masterclasses.
And new data from North West Research (NWR) on behalf of festival organisers Sefton Council reveals the huge economic and tourism benefits of this year’s event, revealing that the estimated overall economic impact of the food event was £894,224.
The analysis also found that 99% of respondents would recommend the event to others and a whopping 98% of non-Southport attendees were either “very likely” or “quite likely” to return to the festival in future.
People of all ages flocked to the event and the higher proportion of visitors were aged 35 to 44 (18%), reflecting the event’s appeal to families. Event data found 78% of attendees were from the Liverpool City Region, including 57% from Sefton – while 19% came from elsewhere in the North West, and 3% from other parts of the UK.
Councillor Paulette Lappin, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Economy and Skills, said: “This year’s Southport Food and Drink Festival has once again shown how special it is, attracting tens of thousands of visitors and giving a fantastic boost to our local economy. It’s wonderful to see so many families and visitors returning year after year, and we’re already putting plans in place to make next year’s festival even bigger and better. I’d encourage everyone to keep an eye out for dates for 2026 as we build on this success and continue the tradition that first began in 2007.”