Thousands of food lovers enjoy Port Sunlight’s Christmas Food Fayre

Dec 7 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

Thousands of food lovers enjoy Port Sunlight’s Christmas Food Fayre

THOUSANDS of food lovers enjoyed a festive feast at Port Sunlight.

The village’s Hulme Hall and surrounding grounds played host to more than 100 local producers for the two-day Christmas Food Fayre, showcasing cheeses, cakes, confectionery, pickles and preserves.

The event attracted 12,000 visitors – far exceeding last year’s total of 9,000 over three days.

Celebrity chefs Simon Rimmer and Cyrus Todiwala shared the tricks of their trade and were joined on the demonstration stage by Wirral chefs Dominic Pospisil, Julian Davies and Richard Fox.

Tips included how to roast chestnuts to perfection and create restaurant-quality Christmas dinners.

There were specialist cheeses from the Liverpool Cheese Company and a stall selling produce from Claremont Farm, in Bebington.

Chocolatiers Bala Croman, of the Chocolate Cellar, and Toby Beevers, of Kokonoir Chocolate, and Ceri Newton, of Wirral bakers Gorge’Us, were also on hand for those with a sweet tooth.

Lionel Bolland, chief executive of Port Sunlight Village Trust, said: “Our second Christmas Food Fayre brought us a very exciting weekend at Hulme Hall and we were delighted with the turnout.

“It was wonderful to welcome such a diverse range of stallholders, chefs and entertainers to the village and showcase this beautiful building to our guests.

“Housed within historic Hulme Hall and surrounding grounds, the fayre featured over 100 local producers and artisan craft stalls and chef demonstrations from Something For The Weekend’s Simon Rimmer as well as festival favourite Cyrus Todiwala, who was a hit with the crowds at his first food fayre in the North West.”

Port Sunlight Village Trust aims to protect and conserve the village for future generations.

Mr Bolland added: “In such difficult economic times, we were proud to see such an impressive number of visitors come through our doors to support the village.

“We’re looking forward to making plans for 2012 with our summer festival and a special anniversary salute to The Beatles and their first performance with Ringo Starr in Hulme Hall 50 years earlier, as well as our third Christmas Food Fayre next December.”