ORGANISERS of the Alcester and Forest of Arden Food Festival are anticipating a record breaking year as they prepare to stage the event for the fifth time.
The festival, voted one of the UK’s top three by a national magazine, takes place on Saturday, May 17 and is set to feature the best line-up of stalls yet.
Among them will be regulars Hogan’s Cider, of Haselor and Freemans, who have a butchers in Alcester’s Hopkins Precinct, who have attended every event staged through the historic town centre.
This year Freemans will be using the festival to launch its brand new banger – a black pudding sausage.
Company boss Stuart Freeman said: “It has been an amazing success story seeing how the festival has grown over the years.”
Sales of Hogan’s Cider have gone global since their appearance at the inaugural festival but marketing manager Sarah
Edmunds said: “For us, the Alcester area is where it all started so the annual event is a special one for us.”
The event will also feature the annual food tasting contest, backed by the Redditch and Alcester Standard, which this year is aiming to find the perfect apple pie.
The festival runs from 9am to 5pm with a free park and ride service provided by Dudley’s Coaches from a new larger site on Adams Way, part of the Arden Forest Industrial Estate.
Festival chairman Frank Wood said 2014 could be a record-breaking year.
“We have had a waiting list in place for a number of weeks after reaching capacity in record time.” he said.
“The array of stalls will be better than ever before and will include top quality producers from all over the country.”
