Above: Johnny Lynch, Ernest Cantillon, Katie Mythen Lynch and Eimear McCarthy from FSTVLR. Photo: Domnick Walsh

There’s a new player in town with Irish broad range of festivals firmly in its sights. FSTVLR is a recently-launched business that runs themed festivals across the country and connects businesses seeking to host food and drink events with consumers through its online platform FSTVLR.ie.

FSTVLR aims to provide businesses with a way of meaningfully connecting and engaging with consumers via themed activities, events and special menus. The aim is to provide participating businesses (register via the website) with increased customer footfall and sales, engagement with a national audience, an opportunity to connect with FSTVLR sponsors and more. The team behind the company consists of hospitality business owners, journalists, designers and event managers who have previously worked on festivals such as BurgerFest, Oktoberfest Beag, and FEAST.

“From my own experience I know that the standard festival model draws consumers away from venues and it can be costly for businesses to take part,” said Ernest Cantillon, FSTVLR CEO, and owner of Cork hotspots Electric and Sober Lane, as well one of the founders of the award-winning Kinsale Gin. “What FSTVLR offers is a proven model which uses social media to drive footfall directly to your premises, increasing turnover during traditionally quieter times and giving venues full control over their involvement. It’s low cost and low risk, and has proved to be hugely successful with BurgerFest earlier this year, where we had over 100 venues participating with great feedback on increased sales and footfall.”

Five food and drink-themed FSTVLs are in-store for the remainder of 2018 around topics such as dessert, yoga and whiskey. Participation costs €95 in return for a digital pack, an opportunity to be featured on the FSTVLR website, participation in a promotional campaign, and overall, the chance to profile your business to a target audience. For more information on the upcoming festivals or how FSTVLR works, check out fstvlr.ie.