The first month of the El Dorado Food Festival is drawing to a close but area residents still have another five weeks to participate in the promotional campaign to support local restaurants and win cash and other prizes.
With “Dine Out in El Dorado” as a tagline, the EFF is an effort to help drive business to local restaurants who, like other businesses, have faced challenges in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The festival began Sept. 1 and will continue through Oct. 31.
The event is coordinated by the El Dorado Insider quarterly magazine in a partnership with the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission and other sponsors, including Murphy USA, Hepco Distributing and Noalmark Broadcasting.
Don Hale — president of the Diamond Agency, the A&P commission’s ad agency of record — presented the idea of the EFF in June, telling commissioners that the local hospitality industry had been hit hard by the public health crisis and that the Diamond Agency had received multiple requests for help with promotion.
In meetings with local businesses, Hale said the agency learned that local restaurants, in particular, needed a promotional campaign that would lure customers back after indoor dining rooms re-opened with COVID-19 safety guidelines in effect.
The A&P commission enthusiastically threw its support behind the non-traditional food festival and approved a funding request of $5,987 to help promote the event.
Hale later reported that the response from local restaurants was “tremendous” and community leaders are hoping for a similar response from area residents and out-of-town visitors in the remaining weeks of the festival.
El Dorado City Council Member Paul Choate, who also serves as treasurer of the A&P commission, issued a reminder about the festival during an El Dorado City Council on meeting Sept. 24.
“I spoke to Don Hale … early this week and we’re getting good feedback on this,” Choate said.
To coincide with the EFF, the fall edition of the El Dorado Insider — which is also largely funded by the A&P commission and published by the Diamond Agency — made a strategic decision to pivot the focus on local restaurants, rather than the usual fall festivals and events, most of which have been canceled in El Dorado because of COVID-19.
The edition includes a 30-page section on the local food industry “to show visitors where they can go for the best of the best and give residents an inside scoop on things they may not know,” according a press release that was previously issued about the event.
Nearly two dozen of the more than 75 eateries in the area are participating in the festival and offering discounts totaling $380,000.
As an added incentive for people to dine in or carry out locally, a pull-out with more than 30 coupons to participating restaurants was inserted into the fall edition of the Insider.
The coupons offer free appetizers, desserts, 10-percent discounts and more.
On the back of each coupon is a registration form to win a $500 cash prize. “Festival-goers” may complete the form and place them in the contest box at a participating restaurant once the coupon has been redeemed.
Choate said “there a few coupon books left.”
In addition to the cash prize, Murphy USA gas cards, valued at $50, are being given away each week on Instagram.
To be eligible for the weekly giveaway, diners are encouraged to take a photo of their meal, post it to Instagram, tag @eldoradoinsider and mention the respective restaurant in the post. The Insider is also posting photos each week of local dishes on its social media pages to further entice potential customers.
Radio and billboard advertising are also included in the EFF promotional campaign.
Choate asked Council Member Mike Rice — owner and operator of Fayrays restaurant, a participant in the EFF — if he has seen an uptick in business as a result of the festival.
“Not so much with the coupons. We’ve been busy but … to win free money, people haven’t been using the coupons,” Rice said.
Choate said Hale planned to check the contest boxes at participating restaurants for coupons/contest entries.
“If we can get your cash register to ring and people in your store — any way we can do to help that, plain and simple. A big part of what we need to be doing is stimulating businesses in our community,” Choate said.
Copies of the El Dorado Insider and coupon booklets are available at the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, 111 W. Main, and the Arkansas Welcome Center, 3315 Junction Hwy./U.S. 167.
For more information, visit ELDOFOODFEST.com or call the Diamond Agency at 870-862-1010.