Burnham-On-Sea town centre was full of amazing tastes and flavours on Saturday (May 26th) when the town’s food festival, known as ‘Eat: Burnham’, returned for a 12th time.
Now in its sixth year, the award-winning event has grown again and there were 135 traders selling the region’s finest food and drink, alongside a wide variety of free entertainment and cooking demonstrations.
Despite a rainy and slow start to the day, thousands of people filled Burnham’s town centre during a dry afternoon to visit the retailers lining the streets.
Speaking to Burnham-On-Sea.com, the town’s MP, James Heappey, said: “It’s been another great Eat Festival in Burnham-On-Sea. Bev and Sarah do an amazing job bringing so many fantastic food producers into the town. It’s great to see thousands of people tucking in and having a super day out.”
Bev Milner Simonds, co-organiser, pictured above with the MP, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Sarah and I are very pleased to come back to our home town and hold Eat Burnham in the heart of the town centre. We’ve had really positive feedback from our visitors and stallholders. Full credit as well goes to our team of stewards who have done our town proud.”
Along with food and drink stalls, visitors were able to enjoy live street music from buskers, cooking demonstrations, a Punch and Judy show, face painting, and a ‘tea cup ride’ faiground attraction in Victoria Street.
Traders at Saturday’s event reported a busy day of trade. Fenny Castle Vineyard’s James Cumming said: “We have been to the festival five times now and this one ended up the best event for us despite a slow start because of the rain. We will be back next time.”
Mike Smith from Mikes Pork added: “It was a very good day once the weather brightened up. We almost sold out and did very well.”
Jez Pitman at the Moonbeams Farm stall, from Wellington, said: “The festival went very well – it wasn’t as busy as the Autumn festival, but it was still very good. It’s such a well organised event and we’ll be back in October.”
Gemma Lewis from Dark Matters Brownies added: “It was a busy day, although not as busy as last year. Overall, though, we are very happy with how it went and nearly sold out of our stock.”
Oliver Lorna from the Ministry Of Fudge added: “It went really well, it wasn’t the most profitable, but the people here are so supportive and make it worthwhile. It’s such a well run event.”
Alison Chapman at Harry’s Cider said: “It’s such a good event and it’s gone very well for us. All of Bev and Sarah’s events are superb – they really organise them well and we look forward to the next one.”
Somerset Deli’s Chris Cole said: “It wasn’t as busy as some previous years, but we still had a good day all the same and will be back.”
Shops in Burnham’s town centre also reported a busy day of trade, thanks to the festival.
Truckles farm shop’s Ron Bashford told us: “We saw much better footfall than a normal Saturday. Our trade is always helped by the food festivals, and we look forward to the next one.”
Ryan Mount at fishmonger Seafoods added: “This has been one of our busiest days of the year, with a lot of good footfall and higher trade. Anything that brings more people into the town is good – we’d like to see the festival extended to the whole weekend!”
Colin Morris at GW Hurleys added: “It was a very busy day in all our departments for us thanks to the extra people in the town. The festival has been good for us.”
Gardiner Whites’ Jax Gardiner-White said: “It’s been a really good day of trade for us. We’ve worked closely with the stalls selling fruit and veg, many of whom are our suppliers, to arrange with them to distribute our flyers for us. We’d like to see the festival expanded further along the High Street.”
Geoff Lewis at the Treasure Chest gift shop on The Esplanade added: “We had a quieter day than we’d expect on a usual Bank Holiday weekend – the festival doesn’t help us here on the seafront. Some customers today didn’t know the festival was taking place.”
A Burnham Chamber of Trade spokesman added: “It was wonderful to see the town centre buzzing with so many people today, and our congratulations go to Bev and Sarah on another fantastic event.”
The Peoples Choice for best trader went to Wookey Farm while the sponsors’ choice was Keystone Pizza, a new trader.
