Festivals give local producers an appetite for growth

Entries are already piling in for the Western Daily Press’s fifth Food & Farming Awards. Sue Bradley catches up with some of last year’s winners

AVISIT to an eat:Festival is more than just an opportunity to sample and buy some of the finest food and drink produced in the West.

For not only do the events provide a boost for many beleaguered town centres, they represent an £8 million shot in the arm for our region in terms of their annual local economic impact.

This year Beverley and Sarah Milner Simonds are organising no fewer than 16 eat:Festivals, with Nailsea, Castle Cary, Crewkerne and Minehead due to host them for the first time in 2019.

All four, together with Westonsuper-Mare, Taunton, Burnham-onSea, Portishead and Wellington, will be welcoming farmers and producers bringing quality fare to their town centres.

The 2019 eat:Festivals schedule kicks off in Weston-super-Mare next Saturday, January 26, with the first eat:Vegan, which Beverley describes as “an awesome food and drink festival that happens to be vegan”.

Beverley and Sarah were approached to hold the event by Weston BID, who wanted to satisfy the growing demand for plant-based food and drink. Some 60 food and drink producers will be showcasing vegan products, with shoppers able to enjoy a pop-up wine festival and Thatchers Cider Tasting Room, street food, a screen printing workshop and demonstrations from local chefs.

Events run by eat:Festivals have been part of life in the West Country since 2012, when Beverley and Sarah organised their first one in Burnham-on-Sea. Since then the social enterprise has grown significantly, with festivals regularly attracting thousands of extra people into town centres, many of which have suffered declines in their fortunes in recent years.

The events are free to attend and focused on primary producers from within 25 miles of their locations. Customers receive a printed directory so that they can revisit their favourite stall holders in the future.

“What we aim to do is not only create a great free day out, but help people to reconnect with the productive countryside around them,” explains Sarah, who moved to the area with Beverley around a decade ago.

“We bring in livestock and giant tractors and organise free talks, workshops, cookery schools, competitions and demonstrations.

“We also offer bursaries and work with Young Enterprise Somerset to give the next generation a chance to start trading.

“We try and create an experience in the town centre that encourages people to rediscover their home towns and some fantastic local food and drink producers at the same time, which seems to be a great formula.

“Over the years we’ve seen some of our producers take on their own permanent premises, expand, begin international sales and go into direct retail after gaining confidence through the festivals, which is fantastic.”

Beverley and Sarah notched up their 25th festival in December, an event that rounded off what had been something of a challenging year in terms of adverse weather conditions, with the ‘Beast from the East’ and a long hot and dry spell being rounded off with a forecasts of high winds that led North Somerset Council to arrange for producers to move into Weston-super-Mare’s Sovereign Centre for a day.

“There may have been a nine per cent drop in shopping figures across the UK in December, but in the Sovereign Centre there was a nine per cent increase,” says Beverley.

“Across the year our producers have had some record days’ trade. We’re always keen to talk to new towns and cities that want to create an experience in their centres, while at the same time we’re constantly striving to raise the professionalism and focus on the producer by engaging at a national level with trade and government bodies by attending conferences and other events.

“We’re always planning ahead, always looking for things we can improve on. We go to other events and look for examples of best practice so that we can make our festivals the best possible experiences for visitors and consumers.”

Sarah and Beverley’s work has not gone unnoticed over the years, with no fewer than 18 accolades to their names. These include two from the Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards, with the pair being recognised for their outstanding contribution to local food development in 2016 and the best food/farmers’ market in 2018.

This year they’ve got their eye on entering the new ‘local food champion’ category, created to shine a light on events such as markets and festivals and organisations like food hubs and shops that make a point of supporting local producers.

“Our festivals are all about producers: we don’t put them on for our own vanity but to provide fantastic trading opportunities for producers and chances for increased trade within our local communities,” explains Sarah.

“We love the work we’ve done around place making and regeneration that helps put the region on the map for all the right reasons.”

Sarah and Beverley believe that taking part in competitions pays div- idends, even for those who don’t walk away with the top prizes.

“The Western Daily Press Food & Farming Awards provide an opportunity to be judged against the best of the best from across the West,” says Sarah.

“The application process is straightforward and in itself offers opportunities for learning in your business.

“Being a part of the awards as a shortlisted business and as a winner

Being a part of the awards as a shortlisted

business and as a winner is a fantastic

experience SARAH MILNER SIMMONDS