BRIDPORT Food Festival needs more involvement from local people and businesses if it’s to continue growing, according to its chairman Amanda Streatfeild.
Since its began six years ago, the festival has enhanced Bridport’s reputation for good local food, and encouraged tourism.
Now, as part of efforts to improve the event still further, Bridport’s Mayor Martin Ray and his wife Maggie have agreed to help festival organisers seek new sponsors and ideas.
Mrs Streatfeild, of Denhay Farms, Broadoak, said Bridport should try to capitalise on its rare combination of coastal location, wide range of producers, and links in the public mind with TV series like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage.
Amanda Streatfeild
She said: “Ever since River Cottage the wider public have come to associate Bridport with good local produce.
“When Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall moved away we could have allowed that reputation to wither and be forgotten.
“But we didn’t, we haven’t rested on our laurels, instead we have tirelessly continued to promote West Dorset as a foodie destination.
“And the Bridport Food Festival is one of the biggest, most obvious signs of that.
“We know that many of the town’s restaurants and eateries use local food and are rightly very proud of that fact.
“So it makes sense that they should become a part of what we are doing.
“This isn’t just about one event in Asker Meadows in June but about getting the message out there that this is a great place for good local food.”
She said that the Bridport Local Food Group committee wanted the town to become more involved in events leading up to the 2010 Food Festival.
“This year we have Martin and Maggie Ray involved and they will be going around the town asking people not only for sponsorship but for ideas and to get businesses involved.
“The Food Festival and the Round Table’s Beer Festival are now a well-established part of Bridport’s annual calendar.
“Last year we had 2,500 people come to the festival – many of them local, but an increasing number of tourists as well. We should be capitalising on that.”
