13 April 2015
Woking Food and Drink Festival is back and searching for local exhibitors
Woking Borough Council, in partnership with Woking Shopping, is delighted to announce that the Woking Food and Drink Festival will return for the third consecutive year from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September 2015.
Exciting plans are already afoot to enhance the festival’s offering by increasing the number of exhibitor stalls to over 70, running masterclass sessions at the new Tante Marie Culinary Academy and enhancing the festival’s array of free attractions.
To showcase the best the area has to offer, the Council is searching for Woking-based and regional specialist food and drink producers, restaurants and cafes to exhibit at the festival.
The sizzling free, three-day event will be held in the refurbished Jubilee Square, Commercial Way and Gloucester Walk areas of the town centre and it is set to host over 70 food and drink stalls. Again, specialist food event management company, Do You Love Food Ltd, will be administering the exhibitor recruitment process and managing the festival’s infrastructure.
The application process for exhibitors is now open via the festival’s website. Exhibitor stalls available will be 3m by 3m waterproof marquees and will be erected before and dismantled after the event on behalf of the exhibitors by event management company. Exhibitor stalls are priced on a three-day hire only and according to the nature of the exhibitor’s business.
Last year’s event attracted in excess of 60,000 visitors and featured live cookery demonstrations from celebrity chefs Francis Quinn (BBC British Bake Off 2013 winner), Jack Stein (Executive Chef for Stein Restaurants) and Sabrina Ghayour (author of the best-selling ‘Persiana’ cookbook), as well as a varied menu of demonstrations from top local chefs and instructors from the Woking-based Tante Marie Culinary Academy.
The festival also hosted over 60 multi-cultural hot food and produce stalls, free hands-on children’s activities, BBQ demonstrations, a bake off competition, a Family and Fairtrade Quarter held at WWF-UK and The Lightbox, and topped off by a medley of live musical entertainment.
Sam Marshall, Economic Development Officer at Woking Borough Council and Project Manager of the Woking Food and Drink Festival, said: “The festival is an ideal platform for local food and drink producers to promote their businesses and sell their products to the Borough’s residents and visitors from surrounding areas.
“After last year’s event, we received a significant amount of positive feedback from the festival’s exhibitors who were impressed by the amount of visitors, the overall event content and infrastructure and also reported high level of sales – many sold out of their stock each day.”
Exhibitors can apply online now and also find out general information about the festival, including photo and video highlights from last year's event, at www.wokingfoodanddrinkfestival.co.uk
This year’s festival will be delivered in partnership with Woking Shopping and sponsored by Tante Marie Culinary Academy and the Woking Advertiser.
For further information, please contact Sam Marshall on 01483 743029 or email [email protected]
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