A crowd of around 5,000 people flocked into Burnham-On-Sea on Saturday (September 28th) for the town’s third hugely successful Food and Drink Festival.
After a slow start due to early rain, the event attracted crowds of visitors to the town centre for the eight-hour festival which featured 70 stalls, chefs and local food producers showcasing their products.
The outdoor market in Victoria Street and College Street was well supported, with stallholders reporting brisk trade.
And the indoor venues at The Princess Theatre, Somerset Skills & Learning in Princess Street, the Methodist Church and Baptist Church in College Street also saw a steady stream of visitors.
Several stallholders said they had sold out of produce by lunchtime. Peter Skinner from North Curry Brewery, below, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The demand took us a little by surprise and we completely sold out of our real ale by 1.30pm – we had a great spot in Victoria Street with lots of passing visitors.”
MP Tessa Munt said she had enjoyed the event. “It’s been an absolutely brilliant day with good sized crowds at each of the venues. The festival is great for drawing visitors into Burnham, putting the town on the map. A huge well done goes to organisers Bev and Sarah Milner Simonds for all their work.”
Bev said she was delighted with how the event had gone, explaining: “We’re both delighted – there was great footfall again and the feedback from traders has been very positive. We also had great participation from the town, pulling together to support the festival, which has been fantastic.”
Burnham’s Mayor, Martin Cox, was full of praise too. “It’s been a great day – there was a super range of stalls with lots of tempting food and drink. Burnham was really buzzing with so many visitors, which was superb to see. I add my thanks to Bev and Sarah for organising a super event.”
Visitors also enjoyed a range of cooking demonstrations on the ‘KDS Fresh Ideas Demo Stage’ in Burnham Baptist Church, including up-and-coming chef Madeline Francis, 15, from King Alfred School in Highbridge, right.
Others included Kieran Lenihan and Chris Westgate cooking with foraged food, The Somerset Curry Club, Times columnist Joanna Weinberg, Stefano Silvani and Dr Nevin Stewart.
The bake-off baking contest was won by overall champion Cathy Bird with an impressive home-made chicken and ham pie – more details here.
And the first-ever chilli eating competition drew a huge crowd of onlookers to see Marc Brion from Bridgwater take the crown – more details here.
Bakery products ‘sold like hot cakes’ at this stall in College Street
Food fans of all ages joined in the festival fun
Gill Hills from the Crafty Tea Cup Cafe with her colourful cales
Burnham’s Mayor bought a punnet of fresh plums from this fruit seller
Cllr John Woodman said the festival was great at pulling the community together
Burnham fudge maker Jonathan Walter saw brisk trade in The Princess
Colourfully decorated cakes and cup cakes went on show at the festival
The RCH Brewery team also saw brisk trade at their real ales stand
A wide selection of olives were available to be tasted in Victoria Street
Cheese tasters proved popular for festival-goers in The Princess
BBC Somerset’s Emma Britton with festival co-organiser Bev Milner Simonds
An outdoor bar in Victoria Street was well supported by locals
Louise Duck with several of her Upton Cheney chilli sauces at Saturday’s event
Patrick Blandford displaying his fresh veg packs from Riverford Organic Farms
Danny Evans with some of his varied range of fudges on display
The day had started off damp with heavy rain bringing out the brollies…
… but improved weather in the afternoon brought out the crowds
