2011 Stone Food & Drink Festival a sell-out success

The ‘Indian summer’ proved a real boost to Staffordshire’s biggest celebration of all things gastronomic last weekend, with in excess of 17,000 visitors to the town during festival week.

In stark contrast to last year’s rain-drenched event the record-breaking crowds at the 2011 festival spent as much time relaxing and enjoying their food & drink purchases in the sunshine outside as they did inside the marquees; with ice cream and strawberries & cream proving surprisingly popular for an autumn food event.

Visitors and exhibitors from far and wide attended the show which, running from Friday 30th September – Sunday, 2nd October, saw record-breaking attendances on each of the three days. In addition to browsing over 70 stalls in the Gourmet Marquee and taking in the finest local produce in the ‘Taste of Staffordshire’ Marquee, visitors enjoyed demonstrations by top local chefs and got the chance to sample 30 different beers from Staffordshire brewers in the Titanic ‘Best of Staffordshire’ Beer Festival.

A new addition to the Stone Food & Drink Festival, the beer festival brought a true celebration of real ale to a town with over 1000 years of brewing heritage, which started with Augustinian Monks who brewed ales blessed with the sign of the cross. The beer festival proved an unprecedented success as Titanic Brewery’s Dave Bott, who masterminded the event, explains:
“We have had a great weekend of sun, sales and songs in the festival marquee. The festival committee thanked us all for our efforts and promised another show next year, so we will be back bigger and better with the Best of Staffordshire Beers next year.”

With the hot weather helping the crowds to build up a thirst, by 6pm on Saturday the beer festival, along with the other stalls selling drinks, had all but sold out and, along with many other exhibitors, had to re-stock before opening on Sunday. The party atmosphere had also spilled out into the town, with the High Street Farmers’ Market seeing its biggest ever crowds and the numerous local pubs and restaurants running special themed events enjoying a roaring trade.

And the record-breaking crowds that gathered for this year’s festival did so despite the fact that this was the first Stone Food and Drink Festival for five years not to include a big-name celebrity chef on the bill; a decision that initially caused some controversy but, as festival Chairman Richard Stevens explains, is one that was not taken lightly:
“We took the decision not to have a celebrity chef at this year’s festival as we wanted to make it a true celebration of local Staffordshire talent to help mark the ongoing support of our main sponsor, Taste of Staffordshire. We had some great Staffordshire-based chefs lined up and the response proves that the crowds are just as keen to support our local talent as they are to see ‘big name’ TV celebrities.

“Following this year’s success we’re more determined than ever to come back next year bigger and better with a host of new attractions. It’s important to say thanks to the army of volunteers who help with everything from planning the festival to manning the gates and helping clear the site; without them the event simply wouldn’t run. Planning for the 2012 festival will start immediately, so watch this space for news!”

Foodies who want to enjoy a piece of the festival spirit year-round are encouraged to become ‘Friends of the Festival’ to take advantage of a series of events the committee are planning to organise throughout the calendar – for further information and the latest news on the 2012 festival, visit www.stonefooddrink.org.uk