Feast of Dorset festival hits national headlines as sponsors commit
May 2010
The award winning Feast of Dorset food festival hit national headlines twice in two days as sponsors for the September event commit funding.
On May 13 the event was featured in The Independent newspaper in a special supplement. Feast of Dorset was included in a handful of ventures being held over the summer. Under the banner heading Your Guide to 2010’s Best Festivals, the article had a photograph by Barney Smyth. Two days later Feast of Dorset was highlighted in The Week Magazine in a round up of the UK’s best festivals taking place over the summer. Another of Barney’s photographs was used showing a striking contemporary marquee against a backdrop of stately home Deans Court in Wimborne.
The extravaganza, which won the Independent Magazine’s Best UK Food Festival 2009, has also been well covered by local newspapers throughout Dorset and will be featured by food writer Rose Prince in the Telegraph in July. Such high profile publicity has also encouraged sponsors to come forward says Sir William Hanham, owner of Deans Court. Sponsors include Waitrose (herb garden Walk & Talk, celebrity chef Q&A panel), accountant Saffery Champness (falconry display) and solicitor Steele Raymond (After Dark music by the Jazz Ambassadors and Latin band Mambo Santa Maria). Support has also been pledged from Ruinart Champagne.
He says: “Without doubt, good publicity encourages sponsors to make their pledges. It shows that this is an excellent festival and will, in turn, promote their companies. We are immensely for our sponsors’ support in what is still a very difficult trading environment.”
Feast of Dorset takes place over the weekend of 18-19 September and more information can be found on the website at www.feastofdorset.co.uk
