Month: May 2023

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

 

Coventry’s first podcast studio has been launched as FarGo Village welcomes two new businesses on site as well as the expansion of an existing favourite.

The city’s creative quarter just outside the city centre has a strong reputation for providing opportunities for small businesses to grow and this spring, it has celebrated three significant milestones.
Two new names are present on site with Twentytwo Productions podcast studio and 3D Printing Forge being welcomed to FarGo Village – while Just Dropped In has significantly increased the size of its record shop.
Twentytwo Productions is a new venture from Twentytwo Digital, a full-service creative design and digital agency that is based in the Coventry Canal Warehouse.

The new venue will become Coventry’s first purpose-built podcast that will be accessible for those just looking to record all the way through to a fully-managed podcast production.
Twentytwo Productions’ Podcasting Lead is Coventry resident Taylor Pattinson, creator and host of the Waffle Shop podcast which has achieved in excess of 500,000 downloads.
“It is going to be one of the most creative spaces in Coventry,” Taylor said. “I’ve only ever recorded from my bedroom because when I’ve looked at going elsewhere for a studio, you’ve either got Leamington or Birmingham “This is a purpose-built podcast studio, Coventry’s first, and it’s really exciting to have that title.”

Twentytwo Digital’s head of marketing Emily Williams explained why they chose FarGo Village to launch the Twentytwo Productions podcast studio which will be officially launched with a special event on May 12.

Emily said: “FarGo has always been a space within Coventry that has always interested us. We’re a bunch of creatives, FarGo is a very creative space. We wanted the studio to be within a space where there’s other creative things going on so our clients can benefit from the other businesses at FarGo and vice versa.”

Just Dropped In started life as an independent record shop selling new and used vinyl out of a shipping container at FarGo Village in October 2018.
As its reputation for selling Indie, Psych, Rock, Dub and Electronic music grew, so did its premises and nine months later, business owner Alun Roberts upgraded to a bigger unit increasing the range and depth of Vinyl sold.
Now, Just Dropped In has taken its biggest step to the vacated space next door to double the record shop’s square footage.
The increased space will also allow Just Dropped In to build upon its already strong reputation as a live music venue that supports new music and artists as well as an even wider choice of new and second hand vinyl and cassettes.

Alun added: “A bigger unit means we can host more people for gigs, whether we keep stock out or strip it back and fill it up with people, it just increases the potential for what we can do and the kind of thing we can host.
“Coventry is a music city, there’s no doubt about it and the way people have supported the shop, especially since the pandemic, has really blown me away. “We’ve actually come out of Covid stronger as a business and there’s a real sense of community about what we do and that is really important to me.”

3D Printing Forge is a new business launched by Estonian Argo Hobenael, who first moved to England in 2006 before settling in Coventry two years ago. What started as a hobby designing and printing 3D objects alongside his full-time job has grown into a passion-project business, with the aim of creating an on-demand service to make 3D printing more accessible.
Argo said: “We create completely customised items. For me it is a hobby but not everyone wants to go through the hassle of getting their printer, there’s a lot that goes into it.  “People can send me CAD files of models, parts, decorative or functional parts, I’ll print it and post it back to them. “I want to make the process more accessible. If someone wants a part, I can make that happen. I also offer a design service, if someone has an idea but doesn’t necessarily have the CAD skills or design experience, I can help with that and make it happen.”
While 3D Printing Forge’s FarGo site isn’t a walk-in shop, with orders and enquiries coming through its website, Argo hopes one day to open the doors to customers if he goes full-time with the business.

He said: “It’s a cool community at FarGo Village. It’s a very nice mixture of very different businesses. It’s a perfect place to start a new business. They’ve got a small office available which is exactly what you need at the beginning.”
Holly Hewitt, FarGo Village General and Venue Manager, said: “We are excited to welcome new creative projects to our community here at FarGo Village. There are already connections being made.
“It’s incredibly encouraging that some of our existing businesses are expanding into larger spaces on site and shows that hard-working creative, independent businesses are valued, used and have the support locally to grow.”

 

Photo caption (6): Argo Hobenael (3D Printing Forge), Taylor Pattinson (Twentytwo Digital) and Alun Roberts (Just Dropped In) at FarGo Village.
Photo caption (11): Argo Hobenael at 3D Printing Forge’s new location in FarGo Village.
Photo caption (16): Taylor Pattinson inside Twentytwo Productions’ new podcast studio in FarGo Village.
Photo caption (18): Alun Roberts inside the new bigger Just Dropped In shop in FarGo Village.