Ludlow Virtual Food Festival, Marcus Bean in conversation with Netherton
Ludlow Virtual Food Festival, Marcus Bean in conversation with Netherton
Well that was different – the Ludlow Food Festival sadly did not take place in the grounds of the castle, in the market place and around the town this year.
The town could not welcome thousands of visitors, producers could not set up their stalls and the pubs and restaurants were quiet.
BUT the festival did take place albeit virtually.
Marcus Bean took time out from Brompton Cookery School to host a series of conversations with producers and we were treated to fire cooking demos from a team of talented chefs.
All of this took place at Redford Farm Barns, a stunning holiday let deep in the Shropshire countryside. You may recognise the kitchen from Nigella’s Christmas TV show.
This is us nattering with Marcus….
And if you head over to Ludlow Food Festival’s social media channels you can hear him talking to many of our friends
Robert Swift talking about how long his family have been baking bread and how the next generation is now stepping up to the task
Nick from Hobson’s brewery describes the resilience and ingenuity of the festival, how it has evolved and adapted over the years and his confidence that it will be around for at least another 25 years.
Jon and Gill from Sytch Farm Studios spent the weekend helping out the festival team and ran a fabulous raffle to raise funds.
And many more besides.
We have missed the chance to catch up with rapeseed producers Bennett and Dunn, cheesemakers Moydens and Applebys, king of the charcuterie, Shropshire Salumi, winemakers Paso Primero, the irrepressible DJ-BBQ and our favourite Bake Off star Val Stones, as well as watching superb chef herding skills by all the team at Wot's Cooking.
And while you are there, you can almost smell the smoke as Marcus, Adam Purnell, Genevieve Taylor, Julian Brown and Andy Stubbs cook up treat after treat for their live fire demonstrations.
The festival is a not for profit organisation, and without an income, it will struggle. Unless they raise £40,000 by Christmas, the 2021 festival will not take place and, if it goes, an important piece of the food landscape will be gone forever.
Without it, the town’s tourist economy and many local, artisan food and drink producers will suffer.
So if you want to be there next year, head over to the Ludlow Food festival website and see how you can help.
The virtual Event is free to access online via the festival’s social, but we and they really hope that people will make donations in lieu of the normal entrance ticket, or take the opportunity to show their support for the Festival by joining the Friends of Ludlow Food Festival.
If you make a donation of at least £15 between now and Sunday 27th September, send us a copy of your receipt and we will enter you into our raffle to win a 14” prospector casserole – the one we talked about with Marcus.
