Wimborne Food Festival 2009

By food_lover_1 | Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 09:33

Did any of you manage to get down to the Food Festival this weekend? It would be good to hear your thoughts if you did....

I was helping out the organisers and managed to speak to a few of the thousands who turned out for the event. Overall, the reaction was good but to improve the Festival we need to hear about things that people would like to see or change. It was obvious that the number of people who attended the event caused some issues and these will need to be addressed but I think overall the reaction of the Festival goers was positive.

I've uploaded a couple of photos that hopefully convey some of the atmosphere.

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Comments

I went to this and ate my face off. Bring on another - it was amazing!

By jbillows at 14:02 on 04/12/09
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I've just read over my response and don't think I came across very well at all! I'm really happy to hear all the info about our local traiders and am genuinly enthusiastic for this event and appreciate all the efforts that were put in to it. Anything to do with food and I'm there!

By Winstons Blighty Barber Shop at 19:04 on 10/11/09
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I stand corrected! Thank you for the info,. I obviously arrived too late to see it in all it's glory. Anything we can do at Winstons to promote it, just let us know.

By Winstons Blighty Barber Shop at 18:47 on 10/11/09
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Thanks for the comments.... All feedback is useful. As far as promotion of local Wimborne foody businesses, Paul Keating Butchers, Pick More Daisies, Oakley Village Butchers, Honest to Goodness, La Belle Brioche, Spicer's Teas, Spill the Beans and Littlemoors Farm all had stalls although some were only there on Saturday. Many of the town traders had events on at there own premises, for example the Red Fort had an Indian cookery workshop, the Priest's House Museum put on showed off some recipes inspired by rationing, Spill the Beans had healthy eating workshops and there were many more - have a look at tinyurl.com/ykutywj to see the full event list. It is also worth noting that the cookery demos featured many local chefs showing us what they do best..... There was defintely no lack of enthusiasm on the part of the local traders as you will see from the event list, many put on special events for the weekend.

It would obviously be great to have more stalls featuring traders from the town but the idea of the festival is showcase the best of regional food and drink and to get as many people into the town so that the shops and businesses can take advantage of the footfall. The cost of stands is not high and affordable but when a town trader is already paying rent and rates for a premises, the tendency is to use their own premises to put on their event.

So the event does an awful lot for local traders by offering great value and very widely curculated publicity, and it also pulls thousands into the town. To illustrate the effect of the festival, I understand that the Priests House Museum managed to hit its entire October business forecast over the weekend!

There is obviously always more that can be and your comments are very helpful. I know that the organisers will be reading this and that consideration will be given to your points for next year's event to ensure that the most benefit is gained for the town and local business.

Thanks also for your offer of an advertising spot - we'll definitely take you up on that nest year....

Best wishes.

By food_lover_1 at 09:46 on 03/11/09
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I came along with my mum and young son and thought it was truly a fantastic event! My only disappointment was that there was no food left for us! I wanted the Paella and my mum wanted a burger but no luck!!

By WimborneLucy at 21:07 on 01/11/09
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