A star-studded cast, traders reporting their best sales yet, and streets packed with smiling visitors – this weekend saw another great Taste Cumbria festival in Cockermouth.
The event is attracting so much attention it’s going to appear in a new BBC2 series due to be screened next year. With the working title of The Great British Food Festival, the show is fronted by TV and radio broadcaster and presenters Edith Bowman and Colin Murray, alongside Sean Fletcher who is a regular face on Countryfile.
Edith and Sean were filming in Cockermouth over the festival weekend with Taste Cumbria regulars Andy Walsh, of The Coffee Kitchen Bakery, and Tony Harrison, of Harrison’s Butchers, alongside Irini Tzortzoglou, the MasterChef winner, who was appearing on the festival’s demonstration stage.
Edith said: “I grew up in a hotel so food has always been part of my DNA. I’m incredibly excited to explore different part of the UK to celebrate the food we produce.”
Sean added: “Food and the way it is made, from farm to fork or picker to producer, has always been a passion of mine. It must be obvious because I tend to be given the food assignments on TV shows!”
They weren’t the only stars in town for the weekend. Wordsworth House & Garden hosted a Q&A with famed food writer Grace Dent and BBC Radio Cumbria’s Mike Zeller, with The New Bookshop selling out of her books afterwards. There was also a quiz night with stand up comedian and BBC broadcaster Steffen Peddie, and a Supper Club with Alec Anderson from West Cumbria-based Takeaway@Home who cooked a locally-sourced feast at Cockermouth Cricket Club.
Event manager Ellie Windridge said: “What a fabulous weekend. Thank you to everyone who got involved.
“The Main Street Producers’ Market and Memorial Gardens music, drinks and hot food court were good but I particularly loved the Market Place Street Party. Seeing the town’s businesses come out on the street to sell their food, drink and homewares, alongside the entertainers and street artists and street theatre we’d laid on, made for a brilliant atmosphere. Taste Cumbria just gets bigger and better.”
Taste Cumbria is organised by Allerdale Borough Council and supported by Cockermouth Town Council, The Coffee Kitchen Bakery, Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, Tractor Shed Brewing, The Trout Hotel, The Vicky Shared Workspace, Peter Sidwell’s Kitchen, Cockermouth Cricket Club, Tithe Tap and Rock With.
Taste Cumbria Christmas in Cockermouth takes place on December 10 and 11.
Pictures by Tom Kay
