food for thought

seems the Hairy Bikers were so inspired by their sellout opening night audience at the recent Lichfield Festival that they've booked their local theatre in Barrow-in-Furness for some similar shows. It does appear though, that they thought they were opening the Lichfield Food Festival - which is still a gap in the market. I had had the idea for a long time of trying to introduce food events into the Lichfield Festival programme. The events we promoted at the 2006 and 2007 festivals that were tied to lunch at the Meynell Ingram Arms sold out instantly, so I was keen to do something a little bigger. If I had been able to confirm the Hairys earlier we might have been able to link in some actual cooking, but their filming schedule was only finalised in the weeks before our brochure went to print.
While I managed finally to book the Hairys after a few years of trying, I have quietly been trying to entice Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his team to Lichfield since before the 2005 festival. The plan was (and I guess still is) to invite HFW to the Lichfield Farmers Market, which traditionally coincides with the first day of the Festival, have him do some kind of event at the Garrick on that Thursday, on the Friday do something at a venue with a kitchen exclusively with Staffordshire produce, then on the Saturday have a stall at the Market in the cathedral close. This would be a neat and high profile way to draw attention to all the great produce from Staffordshire and the wider region, while acknowledging Lichfield's market heritage. That the Hairy's sold out so quickly shows that the idea remains strong.
Of course A Taste of Staffordshire has been promoting excellence in food throughout the region for years, especially through its annual and imminent good food awards. There is also the fabulous Stone Food Festival which starts in just over a month's time on 3 October. The Hairys new series, The Hairy Bakers, started last night.