The popular Shake & Stir Vintage Music Festival, hosted in Southbourne each summer, was announced as the gold winner for the Event of the Year Award at the DMB (Destination Management Board) Tourism Awards. The award win was announced at the Gala Dinner hosted at Bournemouth Pavilion on 10th November 2022.
Launched in March this year, the DMB Tourism Awards celebrates businesses that show true excellence in making Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole a great place to visit, live and work. The awards had 18 categories with category entries spanning across hospitality, education, retail, event, and transportation focussing on businesses and organisations who have been working to improve local offerings whilst attracting visitors to the BCP area
Thrilling vintage lovers, families, holidaymakers and locals for almost a decade, Shake & Stir attracted over 30,000 visitors to Southbourne last June. The popular music festival features vintage fashion, vintage car displays, artisan traders and live music playing the sounds of the 1920s – 1970s. Shake & Stir was up against Bournemouth 7’s, the Farmer Palmers Christmas Twilight Event and Global Rainbow at Poole Lighthouse in the running for the Event of the Year Award which was sponsored by The Captain’s Club in Christchurch.
Mandy Polkey, Managing Director of Stir Events CIC, leading the team behind Shake & Stir, commented: ‘We’re overjoyed to accept this award. We’ve worked really hard to create a unique and regular event that brings visitors into Southbourne every year and it’s just wonderful to be recognised for that. There’s a lot of love for Shake & Stir, it really is the people’s festival and we can’t wait to host the event again in summer 2023 and bring even more vintage-fun to BCP.’
‘Tim Lloyd, Managing director at The Captain’s Club, commented: ‘We were very thrilled to sponsor this award, and there were some very strong contenders so it was no easy task! Shake & Stir proved to be the winner for us as the event provides so much for visitors to see and do, it has such a sense of community, and attracts vintage lovers from all over the country which is a great boost to local tourism. Congratulations to Mandy and the rest of the team for this amazing achievement, it is truly well deserved.’
Shake & Stir is set to return to Southbourne in June 2023
