Welcome back
When you’ve run a food festival for 21 years, it’s only natural to look back
and reminisce about how far you’ve come from the initial idea. All the
producers you’ve met along the way and how many people have come to
know and love Ludlow because of its food. But this year, we are well and
truly looking forward.
I am pleased to say we are in the latter stages of our application to set
up a charitable arm of the Ludlow Food Festival which will continue to
support local food-related projects. To date we have given back some
£40,000 to community groups and organisations and the charity will
enable us to carry this forward in a more formal manner.
Anyone with children knows how important it is to teach them about food
and healthy eating, so we are delighted to welcome Grow Cook Learn to
the Festival. With support from the Ludlow Food Festival they have been
working with local schools for months on a ‘vegetable train’, teaching the
children how to grow their own food – and you can see the results at the
Festival. We are once again supporting the Young Chefs Competition; so
if you are with us on Friday please join us at the Wot’s Cooking Stage at
3.30pm for the grand finals. These young chefs have battled it out in the
heats to get here, so come and cheer them on.
Our line-up on the demonstration stages is fantastic this year. We
welcome back one of the chefs who helped kick-start Ludlow’s food
reputation, Shaun Hill, and while you might feel I’m reminiscing a little
here, Shaun’s influence goes way beyond the regions; a real chef’s chef,
he has inspired many young chefs now at the forefront of the food scene.
Also on the bill is Warwick Kidd, son of one of our late founders Graeme,
who is forging ahead as a brilliant chef. It feels like we have come full
circle. Enjoy this year’s Festival!
Phil Maile: Chairman, Ludlow Marches Food and Drink Festival