An estimated crowd of 16,650 visited the 7th Burnham-on-Sea Food & Drink Festival, enjoying a great line-up of Somerset food and drink, entertainment and warm autumn sunshine
Over 100 traders from across Somerset were invited into the festival this October and visitors enjoyed a wide range of tasty treats such as fruit liqueurs, cheeses, confectionary, ciders and baked goods, alongside more exotic offerings as Somerset biltong, charcuterie, chilli plants, oils, goat curry, masala dosa, Malaysian cuisine and espresso marmalade! Somerset Life Editor Charlotte Skidmore was one of the judges in the bake off.
Festival co-organiser Bev Milner Simonds told us: “It more than surpassed our expectations, we were blessed with beautiful blue skies and warm sunshine and the crowds filled the streets and venues all day. We have had such positive feedback from the visitors, it is so fulfilling to see so many people making our town centre so full with smiling faces!
“Sarah and I tried to step back a couple of times during the day and soak up the atmosphere, but as ever we have been flat out with our team of volunteers all day. A massive thank you to all of them - they have worked their socks off today, calmly and professionally - a special thank you to the RNLI crew who pitched in today and were an excellent team of stewards.”
Sarah Milner Simonds, festival co-organiser said: “We think Burnham-on-Sea was really shown off to it’s best today with all the streets in the town full, the beach crowded and no incidents or accidents.”
“We chatted to people who had travelled from Manchester, London, Derbyshire, Portsmouth and Barcelona for the festival - some visiting friends and family, some on holiday - all staying in the local area and making the most of the great location.”
The festival featured lots for all ages, even those who don’t enjoy food and drink including rides, buskers, Punch & Judy shows, displays from various rural charities, turkeys, Snowy the cow, a marrow weigh-in and the Great Burnham Bake Off.
The Bake Off, sponsored by the Retreat Caravan Park saw some persistent bakers from previous competitions triumph and the professionals trophy based onto Spences Cakes. The Young Bakers competition was won by Millie Jones, with a carrot cake. The Technical Challenge by Hattie Stevens, Lauren & Cathy Smith (Family Champion Bakers) and Cheryl Phillips (Individual Champion, with an excellent Bakewell Tart). Thanks also to prize sponsors ETI Thermapen and The Village Hamper
The giant marrow weigh-in competition saw some family rivalry who William, who is in year 3 at St Josephs, triumphing over his dad. William started his marrow from seeds collected at the May festival. Well done to runner up Francesca and a special mention for Millie who won the smallest marrow.
Visitors to the show also took part in the poll to find the people’s favourite stall. The Best in Show competition, sponsored by local firm Bakkavor Desserts saw 1000 votes cast and Somerset Charcuterie topping the poll as the people’s choice.
The KDS Fresh Ideas Stage saw four tops chefs and cooks demonstrate their skills to an appreciative audience. Cook ability Cookery School cooked up some tasty treats, followed by Indian chef Bini Ludlow. Next was local teacher and previous Bake off winners Patrick and Nigel Smith with their Doh! Sourdough demonstration. Closing the show was Kate Gardiner from not so secret supper club, Purple Spoon in Bridgwater.
The food and drink festival returns to Burnham-on-Sea on Saturday 28 May 2016
