St Albans City & District Council City Centre Events Programme 2016 Sponsorship Opportunities

The St Albans Community Engagement Team holds three street festivals a year and a month long Christmas Market. For the street festivals we close St Peter’s Street to traffic and devote the day to entertaining and engaging the public. 8,000-15,000 attendees Food and drink stalls Traders including local artisans and small businesses Entertainment: street artists and music Quality sound stages and light displays The Christmas Market is held in the atmospheric Vintry Garden in the grounds of the St Albans Cathedral.

Become a sponsor for St Albans Community Events and place your business right at the heart of the City. St Albans is an affluent area with residents enjoying a high quality of life. It has the 4 th highest proportion of managers, senior officials and professional occupations in the country. 50% of residents hold a degree or equivalent and average weekly earnings are 44% higher than the British average.

Join us Our marketing communications attract audiences from a range of ages and cultural backgrounds. We distribute high quality brochures (featuring our sponsors) for each festival across the region, making them available through partners and retail/arts organisations. We also produce posters at sites across St Albans and Harpenden, and promote the programme through our residents’ communication channels. Our strong relationship with key media partners (Herts Advertiser, St Albans & Harpenden Review, Verulam Radio, Heart FM, Bob FM, East Life Magazine) allows us to mount an effective PR campaign across radio and press. We also cross-market with venues and partners including local music venues, schools and colleges and visitor attractions. Our social media campaign has increased 350% in the last year with post reach of over on event days.

Alban Street Festival 19 June 2016 Free, family-friendly, celebrating all that is fabulous about St Albans City and District On Father’s Day and near Summer Solstice Family activities, food stalls, entertainment and engagement opportunities

St Albans & Harpenden Food & Drink Festival 26 September – 3 October A week of food and drink-related events including Harpenden Food Court on 26 September St Albans Finale on 2 October Industry awards dinner on 3 October featuring key local dignitaries and a range of business contacts

St Albans Christmas Lights Switch On 20 November 2016 Carnival atmosphere Shopping, food and fun Pantomime stars at the switch-on ‘moment’

St Albans Christmas Market 24 November to 18 December Wooden chalets featuring artisan, designer- maker and bespoke goods Atmospheric location beneath St Albans Abbey Craft activities and evening entertainment Santa’s Grotto Extended exposure to 100,000+ visitors

Sponsorship example: Regency Basements & The Family Tent: Handed out balloons and maintained a presence throughout day, discussing business with family audiences.

Sponsorship example: Everblades and The Village Green (in kind): Handpainted sign, astroturf on display and flyering audience throughout day

Sponsorship example: Nottingham Building Society: Mascot presence, banner signage, marquee space on St Peter’s Street

Sponsorship feedback: “Just wanted to say thank you for this opportunity, wow what a successful day! If there are any other events coming up, please do let me know, we would love to get involved.” Nottingham Building Society

Sponsorship opportunities: Main stage sponsorship: from £2,000 per event In kind sponsorship subject to product (e.g. artificial grass supplier etc) Attraction/area sponsorship from £300-£1,000 e.g. Sporting area, family area, performance area, craft area, acoustic stages

With such a variety of events and so many opportunities, we are happy to talk to you about your ideas. Would you like to talk to families? Foodies? Would you like to host your own space or set up a display?

Get in touch with us Please get in touch with us if you have any questions relating to sponsorship or to discuss any other opportunities. Contact: Helen Burridge Phone: