The thriving Cowbridge Food & Drink Festival has secured funding from the Strategic Business Growth Grant Scheme of the Welsh Government and a National Lottery Awards for All from the Big Lottery Fund ahead of this year’s festival on Sunday 27th and Monday 28th May.
Now in its 14th year, the award-winning festival has grown from a one day event with 40 exhibitors on one site to a whole weekend of activity with over 100 food and drink exhibitors, cooking demonstrations and musical entertainment spread across the Vale of Glamorgan town. Last year, the festival welcomed 12,000 people.
Polly Wilson, event organiser, said:
“We are absolutely delighted to announce that Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival has received support in the form of a National Lottery Awards for All grant from the Big Lottery Fund as well as funding from the Strategic Business Growth Grant Scheme of the Welsh Government.
“The Strategic Business Growth Grant allows the festival to keep offering superb value for money for exhibitors as well as allowing us to keep the ticket price exactly the same for the last seven years.
“The grant they are generously providing goes towards the overall costs of running the festival. Without a purpose built site, the Committee need to create a ‘Market Place’ on each of the three sites as well as providing essential services such as electricity, security, marquees, signage and the popular free park and ride.“We also very much pride ourselves on keeping the sites clean throughout the festival and recycle as much as possible in line with the Welsh Government’s Sustainability and Environmental programme.
“As the infrastructure alone costs around £30,000 each year for an event of this size we are very grateful and thrilled that we have once again been supported by the Welsh Government.”
The Big Lottery Fund‘s National Lottery Awards for All grant, only possible thanks to people playing the National Lottery, will this year support the festival’s programme of demos across the weekend as well as help launch the first Community Fridge in South Wales. Community Fridges are communal places where surplus food is shared between people in a community, by local businesses and individuals.
Russ James, Chair of Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival, said:
“Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival is excited to be driving this movement in South Wales with the help of Big Lottery Fund and hope that other organisations will come on board to offer sites or funding for the future of this amazing concept.
“After the festival, the fridge will initially be located in Cardiff and will be monitored for cleanliness, quality and freshness.”
The festival takes place 9:30am – 5pm on Sunday 27th and Monday 28th May. To find out all the latest on the festival visit www.cowbridgefoodanddrink.org.
