FarGo Village smashes pre pandemic footfall numbers
Visitors to a community of independent Coventry businesses are on the rise and have surpassed pre-global pandemic levels.
FarGo Village is located a short walk from Coventry city centre and boasts a variety of different businesses including a Caribbean food restaurant, CrossFit gym, vinyl record shop and a sustainable fashion skate shop.
The venue also hosts events throughout the year including summer makers markets, vegan festivals and retro revivals.
One of the most popular attractions is the Coventry Dining Club takeover events, run by the successful Digbeth Dining Club that specialises in street food.
Across the last two takeover events combined, nearly 13,000 people visited FarGo Village which is a steep rise on the 2,500-3,000 people that arrive on a normal Saturday’s trading.
Other events such as the Record Store Day, held in April, saw more than 5,000 people attend while just over 7,000 visitors and their canine companions attended its Dog Festival this month.
In previous years before the global pandemic, FarGo Village would expect to attract around 150,000 people from the start of the year through to the end of May. Across the first five months of 2023, more than 250,000 have made a visit.
Holly Hewitt, FarGo Village General and Venue Manager, said: “Our 2023 footfall is higher than in 2021 and 2022 so it seems that the general public’s confidence is coming back after the pandemic.
“As we don’t charge any entrance fees, most of our activities are low cost, and we also are a place where people can just hang out, so visitors can choose how much they spend, which helps negate the cost-of-living crisis.
“Our footfall figures are higher than pre-pandemic, presumably due to awareness of FarGo Village and a wider variety of events and activities.”
FarGo Village, which opened in 2014 at a cost of £5 million, has established favourites such as Dashing Blades barbershop, Gourmet Food Kitchen restaurant and Twisted Barrell brewery and regularly welcomes new arrivals. Most recently, Twentytwo Productions became Coventry’s first podcast studio and 3D Printing Forge is also opening this Spring.
The on-site businesses remain open when events take place and there’s plenty of them coming up this summer.
FarGo Live Latin is bringing Latin sound and dance on June 2 before a Vegan Festival takes over on June 10 and 11, featuring food, clothing and lifestyle demonstrations.
More than 30 stalls of local artisan crafters and makers will feature in the Makers Markets on June 24 and 25 and on July 29 there’s a Beards and Beers event.
The next Coventry Dining Club takeovers are on June 17, July 8 and August 12. For more information about upcoming events, visit www.fargovillage.co.uk
