Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
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7HD )HVWV 7DNH )OLJKW by Dan Leif time and place—is one that Kulov brought into the fold in Los Angeles in May. The orga- nizer says he decided to make the move both to draw a wider pool of attendees (if a tea enthusiast wasn't available one weekend, she'd still be able to make an event or two). But the strategy was also an attempt to adapt to L.A. expectations. "The public here is used to film and theater festivals that go on for weeks," says Kulov. "So in order to have a more serious impact on the cultural life of the city, we felt we needed to do the same." Festivals also aim to have a TIPS ON GETTING YOUR OWN TEA FEST OFF THE GROUND Organizers of successful consumer-focused events offer the following pointers: •Have a clear vision of your community—both from a vendor and consumer perspective—and create an environment that fills the needs of both sides. •Get the word out via as many media platforms as possible: traditional broadcast and print as well as community cal- endars, Facebook, Twitter and local bloggers. One organizer found success offering free tickets to leaders of culinary- oriented groups on meetup.com. •Encourage exhibitors to view festivals more as a way to bolster the local tea community than as a path to quick sales. serious impact on the survival and growth of independent tea. Hans Wold, who owns an online tea seller called Our Home Tea, is the driving force behind the nascent Midwest event (which he says will take place this coming April or in April 2014, depending on space availability). He was inspired to undertake the project after watching corporate giants continue their creep into the tea space, lured by health studies and Americans' growing taste for the product. "I am very concerned the loose-leaf tea industry will be 'Walmarted,'" he says. "I want to focus on providing options in quality and consumer experience." Finally, it's worth noting that though most regional festivals •Just as you did when starting a business, be sure to plan your costs and expectations. Renting spaces, developing marketing materials and sampling product all require both financial resources and energy on the part of the organizer. Before you commit to putting an event on, make sure it's not going to run you dry. are geared toward consumers, the events are helping tea professionals boost their own knowledge. In fact, the fests may be bringing a sense of community and education for younger tea folks that their coffee counterparts find at barista jams and weekly cuppings. Suzette Hammond, a training and education man- ager at Milwaukee-based Rishi Tea, has a wealth of experience presenting in industry-only venues. But Hammond says that her experience as an edu- cator at this year's Northwest Tea Festival, a Seattle event that drew nearly 2,000 attend- ees over two days in October, showed her that fests can pro- vide training opportunities on par with industry gather- ings—and that they do so in a more accessible manner. "Considering what the average retail salary is for some of these talented teachers-in-training, travel- ing to conventions and paying for classes … is simply too much," she says. "As an industry, I think we should continue to embrace regional tea festivals as a means of high-quality education. Some of these attendees will very likely be the next generation in North American tea." Fresh Cup Magazine 19 COURTESY OF KULOV TEA LOVERS FESTIVAL