ACE Festival Planning Meeting 31 July 2025
Meeting Title: ACE Monmouth Open Meeting
Meeting date and time: 31 July, at 7:30pm
Venue Details: Zoom
Present: Charles Emes, Hamish Blair, Jess Long, Katherine Pitts-Tucker, Jem Jenkins-Jones Claudia Blair, Sarah Read
Apologies: Nichola James, Sue Parkinson, Clare Catto
Agenda and Notes
Welcome and Introductions
Festival status update
Charles ran through the list of organisations confirmed to attend the festival. These include:
Smoothie Bikes
Cardiff Cycle Workshop
MCC Reuse Shop
The Repair Café
Benthyg
The Community Fridge
Louby Lou
Bees for Development
Unfortunately, Tools for Self Reliance are unable to attend this year.
Other confirmed activities:
Crafty Pickle: Fermentation workshop
Cookalong Club: Chickpea Korma demonstration and tasting
Elaine Blanchard: Homemade chutney demo
T-shirt printing: Featuring ACE logo and other designs to be confirmed
Monmouth Museum: “Make Do and Mend” themed display of 1940s items, including darned stockings, ration books, and vintage recipes
The Monmouth Charter, developed during the Haberdashers Sustainability Conference, will also be launched. This Charter highlights the areas school aged children want to tackle in response to climate change over the next two years. A video was created and Nikki is exploring whether the Savoy Theatre could show it, with a brief introduction beforehand.
Event timings were discussed, including performances by the Sparrow Singers, community choirs, and Ship & Giggles.
Food stalls were considered but decided against, since regular food stalls will already be at the Saturday market.
Action: Jem to approach local charity shops to ask if they’d like to host a stall.
3. Marketing and Social Media
Hamish outlined promotional strategies, including:
Posts on social media, which could also be shared by ACE members
An article for the Monmouthshire Beacon
Possible promotion via Visit Monmouthshire and Monnow Voice
Plans to distribute posters and banners around town to promote the event.
A prize draw will be held, with prizes such as vouchers from Wye Weight, Savoy Theatre and Crafty Pickle, to encourage ACE Newsletter sign-ups.
4. AOB
Marches Real Food and Farming Convergence is being held on 3th and 4th October at Square Farm. ACE will be contributing to this event with a small contribution of funds, potentially hosting a panel discussion, Climate Fresk workshops and a stand to engage new audiences and make connections.
Help is needed from volunteers for running a tea and coffee stand, parking assistance and general support throughout the event.
Volunteers will receive free entry (tickets are otherwise not free), and can attend talks, workshops, and farm tours. The team hopes to rotate volunteers so everyone can enjoy parts of the event.
Action: Charles to include a call for volunteers in the next ACE newsletter.
5. Date of next meeting
The date of the next planning meeting was agreed to be Thursday 14th August, via Zoom, 7:30pm.