Starting Up with Lizzie Hocken @ Witney Food Festival

Witney’s Food and Drink Festival is back for a third year in the beautiful setting of St Mary’s Church on Church Green.

Last year’s festival welcomed more than 3,000 visitors, and 2015 promises to be even more popular as word of West Oxfordshire’s premier foodie event continues to spread.

Festival patron, TV presenter and comedian Alexander Armstrong and Chris Keating of Wychwood Brewery will open proceedings at 10am, on Saturday.

Inspiration for the festival came from the realisation that despite farmers’ markets and superb, independent food traders in Witney, there was no single event dedicated to showcasing the impressive range of local artisan producers.

The festival is an opportunity to demonstrate support for all these businesses and to bring the town together in a great community venture.

Organised by a group of friends with similar aims and values, any surplus from the festival will go to benefit the wider community.

More than 70 passionate stallholders have signed up to promote products as diverse as mustard and meringues.

Alexander finds much to be proud of in the area. He said: “If you want to eat and drink exceptionally well we have some of the finest local producers in the country. From locally brewed ales to award-winning pickles and chutneys, we have it all.”

Browsing and sampling are obligatory but those with serious appetites will appreciate the Food Court at Henry Box School, where delicious, freshly cooked meals are available.

Complete the foodie’s dream day out with a cream tea in the Festival Café, which will be open all day serving tea, coffee, and homemade treats.

Head for the Festival Beer Tent or one of the bars selling an impressive range of real ales, wines and soft drinks.

Chance your luck with a raffle ticket and win vouchers for up to £100, or take part in the tombola with loads of foodie prizes.

When you’ve seen all the stalls, swing by the Skills Tent, where you’ll find a variety of cookery techniques being demonstrated, such as how to fillet fish, make pizza dough and prepare crayfish.

Concerned about the environmental damage the invasive Signal Crayfish are inflicting on our rivers, Mark Lees of Crayfish Capers is as committed to conservation as he is to cuisine.

Local dancers, singers and musicians will be fuelling the festival spirit so don’t miss performances from the Mason’s Apron Morris dancers, the St Mary’s Bell Ringers and the Junior Town Band.

No May festival would be complete without a traditional Maypole dance on the Green and, to add a touch of the exotic, belly dancers will entertain the crowds.

The ever popular Festival Café will be serving tea, coffee and homemade treats all day along with bars selling an impressive range of real ales, wines and soft drinks.

Youngsters will also be well catered for in their own dedicated Children’s Tent with farm and food linked activities. So they can try milking a ‘cow’, butter making, biscuit decorating or creating a Great Big Festival Collage.

Entertainer Farmer James will be there to chat about where our food comes from, and storytellers will soothe those in search of some quiet time.

The festival hopes to inspire all ages to appreciate good food so channel your inner cook and update those culinary talents or just kick back and soak up the lovely festival atmosphere And don’t forget to bring a fruit or vegetable-themed hat and join the colourful parade on the Green, for the Festival Hat Competition.

As a tasty incentive, there will be prizes!

TRY IT
Witney Festival of Food and Drink takes place on Saturday, May 16, from 9.30am to 5pm at St
Mary’s Church, Church Green, Witney. Tickets £2, children free. Visit witneyfoodfestival.co.uk