From the Petersfield Post, Wednesday February 23rd 2011
PETERSFIELD’s Food Festival is set to return to the town bigger than ever on Saturday and Sunday June 4 and 5.
The popular crowd puller, which this year hopes to extend all the way up Lavant Street and the High Street as well as The Square and Chapel Street, will mix stalls, cookery demonstrations and live entertainment to keep thousands of visitors happy and well fed.
In addition, thebestofpetersfield Food and Drink Awards ceremony will be held on the Sunday.
A new management team, consisting of thebestofpetersfield partners Bill Oversby and Philippa Steward, Petersfield Round Table’s Ben Errey and Petersfield Post editor Graeme Moir, stepped in earlier this year to save the attraction after previous organisers Petersfield Events pulled out.
Bill felt being able to keep the festival alive was critical for the local economy.
He said “We were saddened by the announcement that the current festival organisers were to step down and it looked like the food festival would no longer feature on the town’s calendar.
“This colourful event attracts thousands of visitors to Petersfield each June to enjoy cookery demonstrations and to sample the best locally produced food and drinks - we could not see this disappear.
“Petersfield becomes even more vibrant and charming the first weekend each June.”
Colleague Ben added: “We intend this to become the best festival of its kind in East Hampshire with restaurants and food retailers from all over the town and surrounding villages planning events that weekend.
“The town square will be the hub of all activities and will be full of stalls displaying fabulous food, drink and gifts.”
Post editor Graeme Moir was delighted the event had been saved.
He said: “In September last year we ran a story saying there would be no town centre events in 2011 after the organisers of the Food Festival, August Festivities and Christmas Festival all announced they would not be organising these events this year.
“I felt something needed to be done to continue at least one of these events - they have become annual events on the town’s calendar and they allow the community to come together and enjoy the use of their town centre.
“I have worked on other projects with the team putting the food festival on for this year and when I introduced them to each other I had no doubts that they would work well together and prove to be the perfect team for organising an event such as this.
“I have only been too happy to help pull this team together. Everyone working on the festival has not only a passion for the food industry in East Hampshire but a deep passion for Petersfield as well.”
He added that the group has plans to make the event even bigger in future years.