Despite early rain on Saturday, the weather did little to keep people away from Staffordshire’s biggest gastronomic gathering last weekend
The Stone Food and Drink Festival marked 14th years with an event that drew crowds of more than 17,000 over the three days.
Once again the festival calendar was packed with events including live cookery demonstrations from top local chefs in the Willmott Dixon Demonstration Kitchen; Talks & Tastings sessions with passionate producers; Culinary Masterclasses, family fun and great live music.
With over 100 stalls at the festival, visitors were able to satisfy their shopping fix with a great range of produce from artisan cheese, pies, breads and sweet treats through to kitchenware and global street food.
The beer, gin, wine and prosecco bars proved as popular as ever, with the event having a real ‘party’ feel that saw the space in front of the Tinsley Garner live music stage transformed into a dance floor several times over the weekend.
Richard Stevens, Festival Chairman, said:
“Once again, what a weekend we’ve had! Friday was the busiest to date, but the deluge on Saturday morning always meant that we weren’t going to beat last year’s record attendance.
Once the sun came out on Saturday afternoon, however, the atmosphere was fantastic. Sunday’s blue skies made the rather chilly temperatures bearable and the site was bustling. We’ve got some very happy traders – several of whom sold out of stock early on Saturday and Sunday – and we can’t wait to do it all again next year!”
All profits from the event, which is a not-for-profit CIC (Community Interest Company) run entirely by volunteers, will be ploughed straight back into next year’s festival.
The visitors and traders that we spoke to all enthused about what a fantastic event it was, a real highlight for the town, and the High Street was especially buzzing during the farmers market.
The 2019 Stone Food & Drink Festival will take place on 4th, 5th & 6th October.
