Taking place on 14 and 15 June at Duplo’s Addlestone, Surrey headquarters, the print finishing manufacturer turned the garden of its premises into a faux festival field, complete with stage, comedy tent and, most importantly, free beers and burgers, while inside, its DuSense DDC-810 Sensory Coater was given its official UK launch.
Duplo marketing manager Sarah Crumpler, said she was “delighted” at the way Duplo Fest had been received, especially the glorious sunshine that bathed the event.
“Duplo thrives at doing things differently,” said Crumpler.
The DuSense, which recently had its first sale to Leicester-based commercial printer Flexpress, is Duplo’s first machine intended for digital spot varnishing, printing clear UV spot varnish with the option of raised and textured finishing.
Also on show, a variety of Duplo equipment, including its DC-746 slitter-cutter-creaser and its 600i Booklet System.
Duplo also recorded a sale at the show, with Bristol-based Folio Print Finishing signing for a 600i Booklet System yesterday.
Managing director Andy Bird said: "I was blown away by the quality and the speed. We’ve been looking for additional options and this helps meet the changing demands of customer requirements."
Duplo said it sold a number of other machines at the show.
Other Duplo partners exhibiting in Peter’s Field, so named after Duplo managing director Peter Jolly, included Renz, Friedheim and Infigo Software. Infigo sales director Andrew Tucker said leads had been good at the show, with one very good one in particular.
Tucker said: “These are very good events and it gives people a chance to see what is around. A few months ago we were approached by Duplo and we tried to bring something new.”
Vivid Laminating Technologies also exhibited in Peter’s Field. Its marketing manager David Smith’s band The Zufflers headlined the event on Wednesday, playing mainly cover songs from the likes of the Arctic Monkeys, the Killers and Kings of Leon.
Smith plays bass in the band and said his bandmates were a bit nonplussed when he first came to them with the idea but eventually came around.
“We’ve been playing together for years so when I saw Duplo were putting this on I thought ‘This looks interesting, I’ll see if the lads want to do it’. I think the free beer was the turning point.”
Other performers included Thursday headliner Steve Hewitt and singer/songwriter Olivia Rose, with the event officially compèred by It Has To Be Brilliant sales director Chris Rushton.
In the month leading up to the festival, Jolly ran 6km a day, accruing the total distance from Glastonbury to Addlestone, in order to raise money for the Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice charity.
“I have essentially run from the rather small Glastonbury to the larger Duplo fest,” he said.
