Bolton food fest ‘best yet’
HUNDRES of thousands of foodies have flocked to Bolton for the town’s biggest and best food and drink festival yet in a major boost to the local economy.
Organisers are still calculating visitor figures but early indications suggest they are set to top last year’s 200,000, with festival goers coming from a far afield as Australia, France, and across the UK – up from 153,000 last year.
Bolton Food and Drink Festival took place over the August Bank Holiday and was organised by Bolton Council in association with Aldi.
One of the star attractions was Kimmy – a 5ft 7in, 250kg elephant cake – made especially for the festival’s 10th birthday by expert baker Rose Dummer.
The cake was cut by festival favourite and TV chef James Martin on the last day of the festival, and served up to visitors with a portion set aside for local charity Urban Outreach.
He said: “It’s my seventh time in Bolton. To see it grow and extend around the streets is amazing and it really is one of the best food festivals you can go to. The cake was also pretty special.”
Bolton Council leader Cllr Cliff Morris said Rose’s creation was definitely one of the highlights.
“She did a fantastic job and it was a fitting tribute to our 10th birthday celebrations. Overall, the event has been a huge success. We’ve had great feedback not only from traders but also some of the local businesses, who said that the festival has brought people into the town centre.”
Aldi logistics director, Virgil Simpson, said: “The festival has been fantastic and the sheer volume of people has just been amazing. We wanted to announce Aldi’s big move to Bolton and this has been the perfect occasion. Our recruitment for the regional head office and distribution centre has gone really well. Bolton Council has done a great job and worked so hard to put this on.”
