Food & River Festival – make a date in your diary!

PREPARATIONS for this year’s Food and River Festival are well under way with organisers already expecting it to be a roaring success.

The Melksham Food and River Festival will take place on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th September in the King George V Playing Field, and already 70 pitches have been booked.

40 of these are food or drink stalls; from chillies to churros, roast potatoes to hog roast, paninis to pickles, and sausages to sweets. There will also be  a range of beers available from two local breweries, handcrafted ciders and a Pimm’s tent.

Festival activities include fairground rides,  Spot the Oddity competition, and Frankie the honorary canal horse will make a guest appearance.

Adrienne Westbrook, chair of the steering committee said, “This year’s festival promises to be even bigger and better than before! The Melksham Food & River Festival has become one of the ‘must do’ events of the year, and we are looking forward to welcoming even more visitors in 2016 to the King George V Playing Field.

“This year we are trying a new format with a focus on our beautiful River Avon on Saturday 3rd. The Saturday River Adventure Day will feature boat trips, canoeing, visiting wilderness boats, steam launches, and of course our new exciting raft race.”

For those who just want a peaceful river trip are also in for a bonus. Simon Hedley of CJ’s Coffee located in the Littlebrook Centre, is offering a buy one get one free on tea or coffee for anyone taking a Wilts & Berks boat trip on Saturday 3rd September.

Brian De’ath, a Wilts & Berks Canal Trust volunteer said, “The raft race offers a chance for inventive, practical and daring people to show off their skills, team spirit and creativity.  We are inviting teams to bring along their completed rafts, and race each other along the fabulous River Avon. The entry fee is £5 per head, with a maximum of six in a team.

“Each team is encouraged to raise sponsorship funds for their own good causes. We have received a number of team entries already and are happy to welcome more for this inaugural race.  If you can organise a team of four to six people and wish to take part in this exciting team challenge, please email me  b.death226@btinternet. com. I will send you further information, including an entry form, rules and sample raft design. I also have suggestions for sourcing materials to build your raft. The closing date for entries is July 31st.

Adrienne continued, “On the Sunday the festival has a wide range of food and drink stalls, local businesses and groups, and of course, the hugely popular chilli eating competition, where competitors pit their taste buds against increasingly intense chillies supplied by the Wiltshire Chilli Farm.  Also on Sunday the activities and demonstrations continue throughout the day on the River Avon.

“This year local musicians, Modern Vintage Band, will play on the Sunday, and we have put in a request for good weather again for our festival weekend, so put the date in your diary now and join in the fun on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th September!

“We would like to thank Waitrose very much for their continuing support for this very exciting free event in the Melksham calendar. Waitrose is our main sponsor, but there is still the opportunity for other sponsors; companies or individuals could receive publicity for supporting the music, the programme, the chilli-eating competition, the raft race, or even the toilets. Please contact me on 07595 420021 or  info@melkshamfoodandriverfestival.co.uk  or visit http://melkshamfoodfestival.weebly.com/