NEWS RELEASES
Food and Drink Festival is really taking off
27th August, 2004
WE all know that it makes sense to buy fresh products made locally and the ongoing success of the District’s farmers’ markets bears witness to that.There is a huge variety of local products available to us as consumers and everyone has a great chance to find out more about them at the second Horsham Food and Drink Festival being staged next month.
The action starts on Saturday, September 11, and continues until October 3 with more than sixty local producers and outlets offering free tastings, special promotions, farm and vineyard tours and lots of fun for the family. Please make a note in your diaries.
No better example of what the festival is trying to achieve is demonstrated by a new event on September 21 when Christ’s Hospital music department and the nearby Westons Farm Shop combine forces for a lunchtime recital. To complement the music ploughman’s lunches will include award winning Sussex cheeses, dry cured Sussex ham, salads grown on the Christ’s Hospital estate and locally baked bread.
Another fascinating first can be found at the Union Jack Farm Shop in Cowfold where visitors will have an opportunity to taste the latest apple wine being made by the brothers at nearby Parkminster Monastery. The monks of St. Hughes are members of a closed order of Carthusians who settled at Cowfold in 1873 after fleeing from persecution in France. They have little contact with the outside world, however their wine and fresh vegetables are making a big impact locally.
Also playing a prominent role will be locally brewed beers and wines. Although we lost King and Barnes brewery a few years ago, three smaller brewing businesses have emerged in Horsham since then and all of them will be contributing to the festival with special offers, exhibition brews and open days. We also have six vineyards and wineries in our area making a significant contribution to the English wine industry.
Last year’s “healthy lunchbox” competition for schools was a big hit and this year we have offered a new challenge to young people to come up with a menu for a “healthy picnic basket”. Entries will be judged by a local chef and a consultant nutritionist and you can view the results at The Big Nibble, the festival’s launch day to be held at Horsham Drill Hall on Saturday, September 11.
The free-to-enter Big Nibble offers tastings and cookery demonstrations, cheese tasting seminars, a wine challenge, beer and food matching and a chance to quiz experts on everything from grow-your-own to nutrition for kids. The hall will be packed with local produce, there will be a local produce café and the day will also see the launch of the Horsham Town Centre Beer Trail with tickets on sale from 10 am.
We expect more interest than ever this year as our event coincides with British Food Fortnight.
Full details can be found in a 20 page programme going out to 53,500 households across the Horsham district with the latest edition of Horsham District News, and extra copies will be available from council information points.
For more details please contact our Business Development Officer on (01403) 215542.
Ends
Councillor Sheila Van Den Bergh, The Chairman, Horsham District Council, Park North, North Street, Horsham, RH12 1RH.
E-mail: contactchairman@horsham.gov.uk
CONTACT:Richard Morris, Communications Manager
(01403) 215549