Northwich bar owners say Piña Colada 'a welcome boost'

With food inflation, rocketing transport costs, and eye-watering energy bills all hitting the sector hard, red letter days like Piña Colada Festival are more important than ever, says High Street's The Green Dragon manager, Jeanette Elstone.

She added: "They help us fill the void of tougher times".

Jeanette also said, for pubs on the edge of the town centre, the sheer volume of people – this year, an estimated 26,000 – means visitors naturally spread out, so more businesses like hers see the benefit.

She added: “For us, at the top end of town, events down the bottom don’t really make much of a difference.

Alex Finlay (left) and Luke Turner (right) did the Swinging Witch proud (Image: Newsquest)

"Piña Colada is different. If it happens again next year, we’ll have to put a second bar in the garden to relieve the pressure. We had seven staff behind out little bar at one point.

"The more people you bring to the town centre, the further they spill out to all the outlying hospitality businesses.

"It helps us fill to void of tougher times. A very welcome boost."

While brisk business on high days and holidays is never to be turned down, other Northwich licensees say what they welcome most is the exposure it gives their business to people who don’t visit Northwich on a regular basis.

Or at least, don’t yet.

Chris Mundie, owner of the Salty Dog on Witton Street, said: “From a business point of view, bringing people in is more a long-term benefit, because it’s showing people how much our little town's got to offer.

“It’s great to have busy days, but it’s really more about what it does for the town as a whole.

“People who might not have been into Northwich town centre for two or three years will have been here Saturday.

“They’ll have been into our place, and the other bars, and they might not have even known half of them were there.

“It highlights the town, as a whole, as a destination to go out of an evening.

Raynor Muller, owner of Culinary Concept at Barons Quay, says he’d welcome more festivals like this.

Scarlett Hooson (left) and Julie Green (right) from Culinary Concept, Baron's Quay (Image: Newsquest)

“It was great for us”, he said.

"Last year our business was a lot smaller, but this year we were able to take full advantage. We could serve a lot more people.

“Some people on the day said they never even knew we existed. That’s the unfortunate things about being on this side of Barons Quay.

“The footfall, even at some of the festivals, doesn’t really get here.

“But with the Piña Colada funfair right outside, it made a huge difference.

“A lot of people got a chance to come inside and see who we are, and that we’re not just all about doughnuts.

“The days itself is a real boost too. I think all the businesses – not just hospitality – would say the same thing.  

“It’s the one big day a year when everyone guaranteed to come out. I wish it could be like this every weekend. I don’t care how hard I'd have to work.

“These big events keep us afloat. They’re also great fun.”

Emma Smith, manager of the Swinging Witch, said the scale of the event does wonders for Northwich’s profile, adding: “It’s not a good event. It’s a great event. And it just gets bigger and bigger.

“We sold about 1,000 piña coladas last year, but this year we’d  we’ve done that by 4.30pm. We bought an extra 150 bottles of rum.

“It could compete on the same stage as events in much bigger towns and cities, and that’s amazing.”