South Welsh businesses are expecting another bumper attendance for 2018’s celebrations of Beaujolais day
South Wales is expecting a good turnout for this year’s Beaujolais Day, celebrating the first bottling of the French wine, as the region furthers its reputation as one of the centres for the day in the UK.
In recent years South Wales has seen an upturn in the in the popularity of the day, led by Swansea, which is traditionally active on Beaujolais Day.
Ben Smith, assistant manager of The Hyst, a Swansea venue, has noted the rise in business on the 15th of November in recent years: “Four or five years ago it picked up and now more businesses are catching on.”
The Hyst Swansea is taking advantage of Beaujolais day’s popularity, taken from their website
Due to this upturn in demand, many businesses in both Cardiff and Swansea are putting on events to celebrate the day.
The likes of Tiger Tiger in Cardiff and Morgan’s Hotel, Juniper Place and Slug & Lettuce in Swansea are all offering dinner and drinks deals to capitalise on the popularity of the day.
This year has seen a slight drop in pre-bookings, because, according to Ben, “people haven’t got as much money because of the economy.”
Despite this, the popularity of the day is expected to continue its upward trajectory, as Ben has noticed “a huge surge in the last week of bookings.” And puts this down to uncertainty in the economic situation not lack of desire.
Tiger Tiger is one of the Cardiff businesses jumping on the Beaujolais bandwagon
Swansea, as reported by the BBC, is at the centre of the revival of Beaujolais Day.
As the BBC article says, the celebration is “an 1980s fashion which was ditched as unceremoniously as shell suits.”
Professor Peter Stead, as quoted by the BBC believes that the somewhat dated tradition has lived on in Swansea is because its citizens are people “who love to revel in being not-quite-on-trend.”
Swansea’s alternativeness has kept the tradition alive and now with the day being celebrated in other cities is finding itself at the heart of the Beaujolais revival.