Caerphilly’s first ever Virtual Big Cheese has been deemed a huge success with 43,000 online visitors over the weekend. Compared with the 60- 80,000 visitors the festival normally receives, the virtual festival wasn’t expected to be anywhere near as popular, yet exceeded expectations.
The usual festival that takes place on the last weekend of July, could not take place this year due to COVID-19 restrictions however, the fun still continued with the virtual celebrations where lots of fantastic prizes were up for grabs.
15,331 residents tuned into the videos of cooking demonstrations, music performances and the famous ‘Cheese Race’ with 4,220 likes/comments and shares being received.
33 teams consisting of local clubs and organisations participated in The Big Cheese’s best known event, The Cheese Race; 21 of these were children’s teams with the other 12 teams consisting of adults.
Prizes were generously donated by 18 Caerphilly Tourism Association Members, varying from weekend breaks to golfing experiences.
Cllr Lisa Phipps, Cabinet Member for Tourism commented, “Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions, our usual Big Cheese Festival could not take place this year. However, Events Officer Stacy Francis, along with her events and marketing colleagues decided to make the event digital and the response we received from visitors was phenomenal. I’d like to thank Caerphilly Tourism Association Members for their generosity in donating prizes for the online festival and for their continuous support and help in boosting public morale.”
