The first ever Wilmslow and Alderley Food and Drink Festival attracted thousands of visitors at the weekend - completely exceeding the organiser's expectations.
Families enjoyed the fine weather as they gathered at Lindow Cricket Club on Sunday, 28th September, for the free event which celebrated the finest local food, drink and street food.
There were stalls from over 50 local food and drink producers, plus 12 varieties of street food on offer and a fun fair to keep the little ones entertained.
Talks and demonstrations were given throughout the afternoon by wine specialist Karim Ghazanfar, Greg Sawyer from Tatton Brewery, John Robinson from Robinsons Brewery, Sue Van Gaalen who discussed gluten free baking and Claire Kelsey from Gingers Comfort Emporium did a book signing. (Unfortunately celebrity chef David Mooney got stuck in Kingston upon Thames and was really disappointed not to join the event).
Then towards the end of the afternoon the more adventurous festival goers competed in the Man vs Food competition organised by Ian from French Flavour. The contestants were given ten large sausages, secretly filled with lots of chilli for extra kick, and a pint of the finest French cider to down. Protective pig headwear had to be worn throughout the competition and the winner was local farmer Matthew Webb of Cheadle Farm, Knutsford who took home the much sought after 'I took the sausage' t-shirt. The competition was a big hit with the audience, especially the little ones.
Throughout the afternoon music lovers were entertained with open mic performances hosted by Sadie Pickering from The Yard. Amongst those who took to the stage were regular performers at The Yard: Tom Ramsbottom, Ewan Sim, Danny McCabe, Pete Daniel, Liam McClair, George Marshall and Sadie herself.
On the previous day, Party on the Pitch also proved a big success with entertainment from Jasmine, Josh Taylor, Henry Gallagher, Debut Dancers, Barry White and the Abba tribute act 'Bjorn to Be' who got the dancing queens up on their feet.
Vicky Jackson, of Niche Events and the Makers Market, said "There was a lot of boogieing going on and a lovely atmosphere. It was a great event and fingers crossed more people join us next year."
She added "I'm hopeful we'll be able to repeat the event every year. It is incredibly expensive to put on but I'm hopeful we've broken even and it looks like we've raised approximately £1200 towards new nets for the cricket club."
Alongside the music performances, Saturday saw the launch of the Wilmslow & Alderley bottle beer awards, where visitors could sample the best local beers and vote for their favourites.
The voting took place throughout the weekend and was incredibly close with Lazy Haze from Tatton Brewery winning Gold, Tatton Gold also from Tatton Brewery took silver and joint bronze went to Dizzy Blond from Robinsons Brewery and Whirlybird from Mobberley Fine Ales.
David Kendrick, Chairman Lindow Cricket Club, said "Thank you to Imagine FM, Niche Events and the Makers Market for all their efforts this weekend. We had over 3,000 people down at Lindow over the two days and it will have significantly helped the funds we require for the new net facility we hope to have in place for next season. Everyone I spoke too said they had really enjoyed themselves and we hope the Wilmslow and Alderley Edge Big Weekend can now become an annual date on peoples calendars."
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Looking forward to next years Food & Drink Festival.