FESTIVAL FEVER
BEST EVER WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
WOKINGHAM partied in the bank holiday sunshine as the annual festival held its best-ever show.
The event was moved to Cantley Park this year, and saw the now traditional mixture of food, beer and music wow some of the biggest crowds.
It opened on Friday evening with a night of music, including tunes from The Eric Street Band, before Saturday and Sunday’s all-day celebration of the best local food and drink.
Visitors could enjoy street food, meet producers, take part in demonstrations and learn more about where their food comes from.
There was also a shaded children’s corner, offering respite from the sun for young ones. Face painting was available as well as craft activities and the chance to try circus skills.
For those festivalgoers who didn’t want to try real ale or cider, a cocktail bar was provided by the team from The Redan, who are shortly to open a wine bar in Rose Street.
The beer festival was nearly a sell-out. The team behind Twyford Beer Festival manned the bar this year and had ordered 81 barrels of beer, with all bar one being sold.
Organiser Ian Wisdom said: “Everything went very well, it was a great weekend with Saturday and Sunday being absolutely magnificent. The team had great fun doing it, but we couldn’t serve the beer fast enough.”
Money raised from the festival will go towards the work of male cancer charity Orchid, but the exact total won’t be known until this weekend.
However, the coffers were swelled thanks to the efforts of a member of the festival’s security team.
Mr Wisdom said: “I thought the security team worked really well, but one in particular was amazing.
“On her own tod, she went round with one of our buckets and raised £530 for Orchid.”
Music continued throughout the weekend, with a mixture of local groups including The Barberettes, EBOS and Spriggan Mist rubbing shoulders with The Police Academy and 60s Mod band Get Ready.
Festival organiser Stan Hetherington said: “It was immense. It was the best ever without a shadow of a doubt. We just had a wonderful time.
“I’m grateful to all the musicians and volunteers who entertained the Wokingham public. Thanks also to the team from Twyford Beer Festival - they worked their socks off.”
And the new location appeared to have gone down well with the thousands of people who came along for the show.
“We did a straw poll on Saturday night to see what people thought of our new venue compared to Elms Field and about two-thirds were in favour of it.”
Mr Hetherington was also delighted with the reception to the many food stalls, some of whom sold out in record time thanks to the increased crowds.
“The food stalls went down really well: everyone had a cracking time and traders were all saying they want to come back next year.
“The ice cream stall had to order more in!”
And he vowed to ensure that next year’s festival will improve on this year’s:
“Ladies and gentlemen, put the date in your diary now: August 24-26. It’s going to be bigger and better!”