Aston Manor turns up the heat for chilli festival

BIRMINGHAM-based drinks supplier Aston Manor Cider has been named as the sponsor of this year’s Brindleyplace Chilli Festival.

The festival, which celebrates the fiery properties of the vegetable, is now in its third year. It takes place this year between July 19 and 20.

Organised with the support of market operator, Sketts, local producer Holly & The Ivy and chilli specialists, Fire Foods, the event will feature a variety of stalls selling chilli-inspired food, along with live music and cookery demonstrations from Brindleyplace restaurants. There will also be a chilli eating competition.

Gordon Johncox, Managing Director, Aston Manor Cider, said the firm was keen to showcase how the drink could be matched with a range of recipes and to help with the celebrations it would be developing some exclusive recipes in conjunction with local bars and restaurants.

For example, Mexican street food restaurant, Chilacas, is currently working on a pork marinade using cider from Aston Manor which will be one of the dishes available at the festival.

Aston Manor will be offering visitors samples of its cider throughout the course of the festival and will be hosting the festival’s family chill out zone.

Ailsa Raine, marketing executive at Brindleyplace, said: “We are really pleased that such a well-known brand in the Midlands wishes to support the Birmingham Chilli Festival this year. The free event has proved very successful over the last couple of years so it’s great that it will be returning to the estate for its third year.”

Russell Dean of Sketts Quality Events said “It’s wonderful to see a concept take off the way the Chilli Festival has and to attract such a great sponsor only proves its going from strength to strength.”

Brindleyplace will be staging a series of events over the summer including local produce markets at the end of every month, a fundraising boat race along the canal during its Dragonboat Festival and its Outdoor Film Festival, along with screening Wimbledon in one of its public squares.