It has been reported that around 70,000 people visited Christchurch Food Festival this weekend and I am not surprised. The weather was warm and sunny and the atmosphere was electric.
We arrived in Christchurch at 11am on the Sunday and it was busy already. I had a plan of attack in my mind, as I already knew which of my favourite traders would be there. I really enjoy festivals such as these as it gives you the opportunity to not only meet the people behind the products, but also to try any new ones.
My first port of call was A Taste of Dorset. A fabulous shop open all year round which specialises in stocking food and drink from Dorset. They were expecting @alwestonjam to be there but unfortunately she couldn’t attend due to a family emergency but that didn’t stop me from picking up one of our family favourites – Red Grapefruit Marmalade.
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| Follow @ATasteofDorset for news and more |
Next up – time to explore the stalls. It was very busy by now but everyone was moving and enjoying the atmosphere and gorgeous food smells filtering in from every direction. There was everything there from cupcakes, to olives, sausages to cheese – something for everyone.
I soon stumbled upon my twitter friends @fromdorset. They make the most gorgeous chutneys, jams and preserves. I am now the proud owner of Three Fruit Marmalade and Spiced Cider and Apple Jelly and am very excited by their new launches coming very soon. I have volunteered as a taste tester! You can find their website here: From Dorset With Love
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| Chrissy from From Dorset With Love |
I was then surprised to find my old friends @simplysprinkle. One of my first posts was about them and I love their range of spices that really jazz up your food. I text our good friend Martin and let him know they were there as on his last visit to our house he stole borrowed some sachets. I quickly got a reply requesting their variety box, even though they are online, so another purchase was made. My poor buggy was starting to get laden down!
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| Weeeeeeeeee |
At this point the boys were getting hungry so I introduced them to the delights of Churro’s (Spanish donuts) and made my way to the giant inflatable slide.
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| He looks terrified but loved it! |
If you follow me on twitter then you will know my favourite restaurant is @theurbanreef, so I was very excited to see that they had a stall here too – just by the slides. I finally got to meet their superstar baker Kay, who was very lovely, and purchased some gingerbread men for the children for later. They were also selling some non-alcoholic cocktails, which I just had to sample!
The fiery ginger one was my favourite, although I didn’t get much of a look in when a certain young man got off the slide.
I was disappointed to find out afterwards that I missed the infamous Mrs Tee who competed against Urban Beach (Urban Reef’s Big sister) in Channel 4’s Four Rooms. She was a real character and had a stall down one of the alley’s selling mushrooms.
By now it was lunchtime and Christchurch High Street was packed so we decided to make our escape. A quick pit stop back at A Taste of Dorset who were now doing Ale tasting and then off to the park via Christchurch Priory and the Quay.
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| Christchurch Priory |
The festival is running until Sunday 20th May, so check out their events page for more details of what else there is to look forward to!
We had a great time!!