A Wartime Garden in Wales
What a Veg Plot, originally uploaded by Elfleda.Brilliant. Delighted that we have secured the services of talented garden designer Anthea Guthrie for Feastival this year. Anthea will be creating a garden in the middle of Bridgend Town Centre and showing us how things were done (sustainably I add!) during the 1940s in Wales. Its a kitchen garden and will be working with schools and the local community to create it.
Anthea working with local school Heronsbridge achieved a silver award at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show for their Childs Garden in Wales (see above)
Feastival, the Wales Alternative Food Festival takes place on 30th September and 1st October 2011 in Bridgend town centre. For details see http://www.walesalternativefoodfestival.com
Feastival turns Bridgend into Little Italy
Italian flag #1, originally uploaded by Ed Yourdon.
As part of this year’s Wales Alternative Food Festival on 30th September and 1st October 2011, we’re turning a part of Bridgend into ‘Little Italy’. The Italian Quarter at Feastival is a celebration of the historic and cultural links between Wales and Italy and how Italy has helped shape our food culture in the Principality.
There aren’t many places in Wales that you can go to without coming across a quality Italian restaurant, an ice cream parlour even and of course, their famous cafes dotted throughout the valleys. The idea is to create an Italian Quarter during the food festival to showcase some Italian icons and true to form with Feastival, this will be a little bit different too.
It’s rumoured for example (only rumoured!) that Wales Alternative Food Festival will get its very own Leaning Tower of Pissa this year (but with a twist). Watch this space!
In the meantime, if anyone wants to get involved in Little Italy or indeed has any ideas for us, be great to hear from you (email: tourism@bridgend.gov.uk)
Feastival returns for 2011
Following the success of our first ever Feastival in October, we’ve been inundated with loads of people and businesses asking if we’re doing another one. Well, it was never in doubt of course, but we’re happy to confirm as expected that Feastival (Wales’ Alternative Food Festival) 2011 will return to Bridgend Town centre on Friday 30th September and Saturday 1st October 2011 and will probably be even more ’alternative’ than before. In 2010 Feastival entertained no fewer than 35,000 people over the two days and that was despite the appalling weather on the Friday – ‘we had never seen rain like it in Wales before’ - even the Ryder Cup was rained off. Like Feastival, the weather is always unpredictable in the UK and the Saturday was like a Summer’s day!
The rise and fall of the giant cauliflower sheep
Well, what a great event Feastival was. Bridgend had never seen so many people and one of the most bizarre star attractions was the eagerly awaited 10 foot tall giant cauliflower sheep. If you missed it, it may be making an appearance again next year but here’s what happened this year…
Feastival laid out, and who’s attending…
Here’s a list of all our traders appearing at Feastival this weekend:
TOFFOC
The Cupcake Company
Gifts For You
B Cake Studio
Bryn Deri Honey Farm
Shabby Chicks
Health Diva (Nolton St)
Fruit Fayre (Indoor Market)
St Anne’s Vineyard
Bake Stall
Riverford Organics
My Chocolate Explosion
Red Rose Crafts
Coastal Crafts
Tibetan Dawn
Reflective Images
Justine Downs
Chameleon
Raspberry Jewellery
Eclectic
Moksha
Dobbin & Lloyd
Radziah Omar
The Pink Boutique
Michael & Maria Griffiths
A Brogan
Pretty Things
Town Twinning Association
Trealy Farm
Charcuterie
Slade Farm Organics
Homemade Country
Preserve
Pemberton’s Chocolate Farm
Cowpots
Kid Me Not
Sancler
DASH Shellfish
Ty Tanglwyst Dairy
Ty Talgarth Organics
Tomos Watkins
Vale of Glamorgan Brewery
Sugarloaf Vineyard
Gwatkin Cider Co Ltd
Caws Cenarth Cheese
C & G Morgan Beef, Pork and Lamb
Caermynydd Piggery
Samosaco
Pant Derwen Apiary
Little Welsh Deli
Olga Jones
The Parsnipship
Untapped Brewing Co
Angel Kakes
Seasons Farm Shop
Cerdin Foods
The Walled Garden
Fforchwen Farm
Onllwyn Eggs
Sushi Day
Twin Rivers Poultry & Waterfowl
The Olive Bar
Melon Man interest at Feastival soars…..even to Royalty!
Melon Man meets King of Malaysia
David Loh, the Melon Man, continues to generate more traffic on the Feastival website and blog than anything else this week, in the lead up to Wales’ alternative food festival in Bridgend. Pictured above, David is seen at one recent event that he attended, impressing the King of Malaysia! David is Malaysian himself so this must have been a particularly proud moment for him. Wonder who he’s going to impress upon in Bridgend this weekend?
Our Celebrity Chefs: Angela Gray and Nerys Howell
Angela Gray who will be appearing @ Feastival 1st and 2nd October 2010
We’re delighted that 2 well known celebrity chefs who are frequently on our TV sets and radios in Wales, have agreed to participate in Feastival this year. Both Nerys Howell and Angela Gray will be holding cookery demonstrations throughout both days of the event from the Look 2 Cook marquee. They need no introduction to most people but if you’d like to find out more about them, please see below:
About Nerys Howell
About Angela Gray
Life on a Plate….Just Perfect
We’re delighted that one of our home grown talents in Bridgend, Louise Samuel from Just Perfect Catering will be participating in our Life on a Plate feature at Feastival this weekend. Louise will be interviewed by Angela Gray about her recent success in the Look2Cook marquee at 11.30am on Saturday 2nd October 2010.
Just Perfect Catering was established by Louise Samuel as a sole trading business last year and has created 40 jobs after a series of contracts worth £3.5m. Clients include online retailer Amazon and the Forestry Commission Wales, and the company has also secured a supply contract with a major international automotive components manufacturer.
Just Perfect catering and Louise Samuel are a real success story locally and someone who we are all very proud about in Bridgend.
Melon Man carves up in front of Simon Cowell
Well, he didn’t do too well on Britan’s Got Talent but really looking forward to seeing the Melon Man in Bridgend next weekend. He’ll be at Feastival on both days and performing throughout the day and throughout the town centre with a couple of slots in the Grub Hub tent too.
Anyway, just found this video on You Tube of him performing in front of the wonderful Amanda Holden (sorry, I must admit, I am a fan!), and the not so wonderful Mr Simon Cowell. If you fast forward to about 2 minutes, you’ll see David in action and I’m sure you agree, despite the panel’s view, he certainly does have talent and he’s certainly a bit different which is why we booked him @ Wales’ Alternative Food Festival. If you bring a melon, carrot or pumpkin along to Bridgend town centre next week, he may carve it for you! Now that would be something unusual to take home.
Remember, its about 2 minutes in…..
A Look into the Look 2 Cook Tent @ Feastival…
Ratatouille: Linguini and Colette, originally uploaded by Fernando Galeano.
Our ‘Look 2 Cook’ Cookery demonstration tent will be located during Feastival in Market Street, Bridgend….
PROGRAMME for FRIDAY October 1st 2010
10.30 Get Baking 60min – Bake it with Angela Gray
11.30 Get Baking 60min – Bake it with Angela Gray
12.30 Festival Feast 60min – Nerys Howell
14.30 Festival Feast 60min – Nerys Howell
15.30 DEMO The Great House 60min – Basic cooking Compared by Nerys Howell
16.30 DEMO Coed-y-Mwstwr 60min – Local ingredients, Local chefs
PROGRAMME for SATURDAY October 2nd 2010
10.30 Children baking 60min – Bake it’ with Angela Gray
11.30 My Life on a Plate. Q&A session 20min – Louise Samuel ‘JUST PERFECT’ Interviewed by Angela Gray.
12.00 DEMO melon sculptor 15min
12.30 Festival Feast 60min – Angela Gray
13.30 DEMO BOKHARA at Court Colman 60min – LAMB
14.30 Festival Feast 60min – Angela Gray
15.30 Festival Feast 60min – Angela Gray
17.00 Young Farmers’ ClubCooking’ competition 90min – LEEK & LAMB
So what’s this Egg Drop all about?
Egg Drops are remarkably very popular, they’re all over You Tube, and here’s one video that we found above.At Feastival, we’ll be challenging anyone to wrap their egg using our recycled material (mostly supplied by our sponsors May Gurney) in the Grub Hub tent and then we’ll arrange to drop it from a Helter Skelter at certain times throughout the day. Of the eggs that survive the drop, the winner will be selected based on most innovative approach to packaging!
Spots and Stripes to appear at Feastival
During Feastival, look out for Spots verses Stripes. Sponsored by Cadburys, this great initaitve is all about getting the great British public (and beyond) to compete, particiapte and challenge freinds, family or anyone in something competitive. Its all part of the lead up to 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games .You wont miss them in Bridgend, as they’ll be highly visible and wandering throught the crowds with a range of challenges to entertain you. You could even come up with your own food related challenge and as far as we’re concerned, the more alternative the better!
For further details see http://www.spotsvstripes.com/
Eggs on Legs and Mad Chef set to entertain crowds
Loads of people have been asking us ‘what on earth are Eggs on Legs?’ and ‘who is the Mad Chef?’ Well, they appear together and without giving too much away, you’ll probably hear them at least three times a day during Feastival before you see them!
Here’s a pic to give you an idea and by the way, we’re not sure if the chef is actually mad, but if he’s chasing an egg on legs then we’ll let you draw your own conclusion to that!
Fruit carving spectacle at this year’s Feastival
David at work on a giant pumpkin in Southampton in 2009
In the spirit of the alternative approach to our food festival, we’re delighted that we have managed to book one of the UKs most talented food carvers in the form of David Loh, aka the Melon Man, to demonstrate at this year’s Feastival. You may have seen David earlier this year on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent but he is quickly becoming a popular attraction at shows and events throughout the UK and abroad.
“I can carve fruits and vegetables such as pumpkin, all kinds of melons (honeydew, cantaloupe), carrots, butternut squash and even suede. But for best results, it has to be watermelons and carrots. When it comes to watermelons, I prefer the dark green melons, as the contrast highlights the detail” said David who will be visiting this part of South Wales for the first time.
When asked how many melons he can carve in a day, David responded “It all depends on what design, the more complicated design the more hours I need to finish it but I will probably carve 10 melons in a day at Feastival with all waste being recycled of course.” said David “ But if anyone wants to bring some fruit along for me to carve quickly, they’ll be very welcome!
In the interests of reducing food waste, David has urged anyone not to discard of fruit and veg that maybe passed its sell-by date but to bring it along to Feastival to be carved into something special and later composted.
The Melon Man will be appearing throughout Bridgend Town centre and in the Grub Hub tent during Feastival, Wales Alternative Food festival on 1st and 2nd October 2010.
PRESS RELEASE: The Great Welsh Leek Relay from North to South Wales in 3 days
Wales’ unique version of the infamous Olympic torch relay, the Great Welsh Leek relay will start later this month on the 29th September 2010.
The ‘Olympic’ Leek will be run, cycled and swam the length of Wales to open the first ever alternative food festival – FEASTIVAL, taking place in Bridgend town centre on 1st and 2nd October. Three top athletes from Bridgend will be starting the epic three day relay in a field in Flintshire, North Wales. The leek will be plucked from the ground and then transported 230 miles on a route through some of Wales’ spectacular countryside.
As well as the grand arrival in Bridgend to open the food festival, the journey of the leek will be highlighting the issue of food miles whilst raising money for Children in Need.
Steve Brace, double Olympian, Alan Kerr, former world triathlon Gold medallist, and Jon Embling with 47 Marathons under his belt have agreed to take on the challenge and carry the leek by hand and bike across land and water
“We’re expecting to take three days to complete this challenge before we arrive home in Bridgend but we’re all really looking forward to it” said former Olympian and British champion Steve Brace “It’s a bit of a unique event for us and hopefully others will join us en route or turn out to cheer us on”
Richard Arnold from Really Welsh Trading Company said “For decades Welsh shops were full of leeks grown anywhere but Wales. In 2005 we stated to put that right, developing a farm in North Wales that now produces up to 85 tons of Really Welsh leeks a week from July to May, and we think that by running some of our National Vegetables the length of the land, while raising some money for a great cause like 4 year old Finlay Brunt from Bridgend who is in desperate need of a life changing operation is a great way to celebrate Welsh National Leek week which runs from 1st to 7th October each year”.
Feastival, Wales’ alternative food festival will open on the 1st October with the arrival of the leek. This will mark the start of a new two day event in the Welsh food calendar that promises to be a little bit different to the norm. some of the most unique features include egg dropping, leek lobbing, melon sculpting and an unusual food art centrepiece in the from of a giant 10ft cauliflower sheep. As well as the traditional food hall and market stalls, there will be cookery demos, an urban allotment, food cinema and the grub-hub tent designed just for little foodies.
To follow the route of the leek relay visit our blog via www.walesalternativefoodfestival.com and follow us on twitter @ www.twitter.com/followtheleek
Ends.
Notes for Editors :-
This project has received funding through the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
The Olympic Leek Relay is being sponsored by the Really Welsh Trading Company. Feastival is sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government, Capital Region Tourism, Bridgend County Borough Council, Reach, Bridgend Festivals, Puffin Produce Ltd., Altern8media, The Really Welsh Food Company & May Gurney.
Feastvial will take place on the 1st & 2nd October 2010.
For more information call 01656 815225 or visit www.walesalternativefoodfestival.com
For more information regarding Finlay Brunt www.fixfinlayfund.org.uk
Sheep gets a sponsor and even a name or two!
Our 10 foot cauliflower sheep which will be made (or born) during this year’s Feastival now has its own private sector sponsor (Pembrokeshire’s Puffin Produce Ltd) and it s own Facebook page too. For some reason, many of its fans to date feel compelled to suggest names for our sheep, some quite tenuously after celebrities and here’s a few to boot:
- Brassica Simpson
- Caul Zeta Jones
- Cheryl Caul
- Ewe-n McGregor
- Stan Cauli-more
- Cauli Jones from the Stereophonics
Other non-celeb names include…..
- Sion the Sheep or Dafydd y Dafad
- The Welsh word for cauliflower is blodfresychen so how about Blodwen? Pity it’s a sheep and not a sheepdog otherwise we could have called her a Border Cauli!
- Ewe-nny – after the place near Bridgend where she is going to be born!
Visit the 10 foot cauliflower sheep page for more detail. As someone tweeted on twitter about the sheep “It’s all a bit bizarre!”
Press release: World’s First Giant Cauliflower Sheep to be born in Wales
One of the most unusual works of food art ever seen in the UK will be created and displayed in Bridgend during Wales’ alternative food festival, Feastival on the 1st & 2nd October. A contemporary artist provided through Altern8media will be making a giant 10 foot high sheep made from cauliflower.
The giant cauliflower sheep that will tower an astonishing 10 feet high, will be the centre piece of the two day event that is set to draw crowds from far and wide. Sponsored by Puffin Produce Ltd., the sheep is to be created on site in Bridgend town and be protected by its own vegetable dog.
“As one of the first alternative food festivals in the UK, the emphasis is on fun with food and doing something out of the ordinary, quirky and totally unique. To our knowledge this is the first place anywhere in the world where a 10 foot high cauliflower sheep has been created over two days.” said event organiser Barry King.
Sponsoring the creation of the sheep is Haverfordwest-based Puffin Produce Ltd, who recently launched their own brand, Blas Y Tir (‘Taste of the Land’) to bring genuine Welsh produce to shoppers in the region through Asda. Blas Y Tir cauliflower is the latest addition to the range. “I think the sheep reflects the ‘food fun’ theme of Feastival really well,” said Puffin’s General Manager Huw Thomas. “It’s a fresh approach designed to inspire visitors – and especially kids – to get more creative with veg.”
Interest in the cauliflower sheep has soared, even before the work of art has been created. There is even a Facebook campaign gathering pace to name the sheep with many tongue-in-cheek names after celebrities appearing all over the internet.
Feastival, supported by the Welsh Assembly, will take place in Bridgend Town Centre and offer food lovers the finest local produce as well as keeping the whole family entertained with food fun. Other alternative attractions at the event include leek lobbing and egg dropping, alongside the more usual food cinema, urban allotment, and cookery demonstrations. The sheep is not the only food art on show at the event, there will also be demonstrations throughout the day on intricate melon carving from Malaysian born food sculptor David Loh who recently appeared on Britain’s Got Talent.
Ends.
Notes to Editors:- This project has received funding through the Rural Development Fund for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
Feastival is sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government, Capital Region Tourism, Bridgend County Borough Council, Bridgend Festivals, Puffin Produce Ltd., Altern8media, The Really Welsh Food Company & May Gurney.
Altern8media, the crowd sourced ‘artvertising’ agency is a new Welsh based company that specialises in utilising artists and artistic platforms for clients throughout the UK. Tel: 08453 888028 www.altern8media.co.uk
For more information call 01656 815225.
Follow the Leek
An Ageing Leek Rabbit Invigorated thanks to the Power of Pets, originally uploaded by ian boyd.
Great news. We’re about to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the food miles issue by transporting a leek from its home in North Wales all the way down South arriving in Feastival in Bridgend on 1st October. Hold on, before criticising us, we’re actually doing it on foot, well, three marathon runners will be doing it on foot. The route will be over land and even swimming with it across a lake in North Wales we hope too. Called the Great Welsh Leek Relay, the idea is to demonstrate that food does not travel well and sometimes it does come over great distances. Looking forward to this, some rare great inspiration from the Feastival team here! More info to be announced soon. By the way, you can now follow us (and the leek) on twitter.
Are you twisting my Melon Man?
Those of you who remember this line from the 80s, may be interested in Melons? If you are, then Feastival will be hosting the outstanding talent of David Loh, better knows as the Melon Man. David has worked the world over but is not yet that well known in Britain, despite amazing the audience in Britains Got Talent earlier this year with his speed carving. He’ll be doing this is Bridgend town centre on 1st and 2nd October, so don’t miss this rare chance to see an unusual talent that you wont forget in a rush.
Bridgend Town Centre Map
OK, here’s our map of the town centre that may be useful to orientate yourself if you’re coming to Feastival. It’s really easy to get around as Feastival is mainly concentrated around the three streets in the middle of the town centre!
Buy Local Eat Local
Want Some Carrot Juice?, originally uploaded by Maria*PA.
Been an interesting journey. We wanted to come up with an event that is unique and raises the bar or at least challenges the norm. Feastival was born. Still a food festival but with extra topping. Main ingredient (sorry, I’ll stop these puns soon I promise!) is local produce, its promotion. ‘Buy local and eat local’ is a central theme (note to self: ask our clever design type people to knock something up to reflect “buy local eat local” without delay – we’ve got 10 weeks to go to the very first Feastival!). So, it’s about local food of course, but we decided that our communications and brand promise should also reflect participation, be engaging, playful and interesting with food. This is Feastival. Right, lets get on to sorting out this ‘Buy local eat local’.
