The wet and windy weather on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 September wasn’t enough to stop the Nelson Food and Drink Festival fun, as thousands flocked to the town for the annual event, bringing their brollies and wellies!
This year was the first ever year the event took place over the course of two days, thanks to Gold Sponsors, Pendle Rise Shopping Centre; Silver Sponsors, Oddie’s; organisers, Scott Dawson Advertising; as well as unreserved support from Pendle Borough Council and Nelson Town Council.
Children danced in the rain to musical performances from the Sambafriq band and visitors were treated to live cookery demonstrations from celebrity chef, Richard Fox.
Numerous stalls were present at the festival selling a range of delightful delicacies from across the globe including cakes, spicy Spanish tapas, authentic Asian curries, German sausages, cheese and churros, and so much more!
Zafar Ali, Nelson Town Council Chairman wouldn’t have missed the festival for the world:
“It’s actually my wedding day today! But luckily the ceremony isn’t until later, so I could experience the food and drink festival first. I love it, I have been every year and wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
It may be raining but I have my extra-large golf brolly to hand and will be sampling the stalls. Its Nelson Town Council’s 10th anniversary today too so it’s an extra proud day for me, we fully support this event for the town and its brilliant to see so many people are here being part of it.”
Cllr. James Starkie and Janet Starkie; Mayor and Mayoress of Pendle, attended the celebrations, arriving in style on a vintage red double-decker bus.
Cllr. Starkie said:
“Both myself and Janet are locals, born here in Nelson and it’s wonderful to be here seeing it thriving. Today has been a particular treat and worth getting up early for, arriving on the vintage bus; I just wish the journey was longer – it really was fantastic!”
Opening the event Cllr. Starkie added:
“The festival is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the food, drink and entertainment from different cultures around the world, it’s also a showcase for local businesses and local produce. I would like to thank Pendle Council and Nelson Town Council for backing the event; to our Gold Sponsor Pendle Rise Shopping Centre and our silver sponsor, Oddie’s, thank you for supporting the festival. To Scott Dawson Advertising, thank you for doing all the behind the scenes work to make this event possible. Thank you all for being here, it’s a fantastic display of what Nelson has to offer.”
Zahida Shamim, Events Director at Scott Dawson Advertising said:
“Today wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors, so a huge thankyou to them. Also, a huge thankyou to the community of Nelson for coming into the town in the masses with big smiles, rain or shine. It’s brilliant to see the community supporting each other and enjoying themselves. This year was the 4th Nelson Food and Drink Festival and also the 10th Anniversary for Nelson Town Council. We all had a brilliant day!”
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- Celebrity Chef, Richard Fox
