THOUSANDS poured into Chipping Sodbury over the weekend for the town’s annual food and drink festival.

The two day event, which is organised by the Sodbury Chamber of Commerce, started on Friday evening with the evening food trail – a chance for the town’s pubs and eateries to showcase their quality and variety to visitors.

Among the evening’s attractions, butcher Jon Howell repeated his popular butchery demonstration, and Gloucestershire gin distillers, Sibling Gin, who supply such shops as Fortnum and Mason, staged two workshops with tastings to a full room in The 1439 Lounge of The George Hotel.

Tom Herbert, one of the Hobbs House Bakery Fabulous Baker Brothers, served as quiz master for a “foodie pub quiz” at the Beaufort Hunt pub, with a packed room of teams in high spirits competing for the ‘Epicurian Cup’ and the prize of a wine-tasting experience at the town’s Waitrose supermarket.

Sarah Todd, captain of the victorious all-ladies team “The Beaverettes” said: “We had a fabulous night – it was such a great atmosphere and fantastic to see so many people attending. We will be back next year to defend our title!”

Saturday started with another first to the festival as Broad Street was closed to traffic for a food truck rally, which included a range of quirky vehicles including a tuk-tuk and even a converted horsebox housing the ‘Crumpeteers’ who serve hot crumpets with home made jams.

Food stalls offering everything from preserves, steaks, grilled meats, cakes, beers, breads and fresh lemonades, opened to the crowds on Saturday, with demonstrations the Royal Army chefs from 162 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps giving visitors an insight into how they turn army rations into delicious food too, which visitors could sample for themselves.

Visitors were also drawn to stalls along Hatherall’s Yard Market, with displays from beekeepers and tastings from local suppliers in store. There were also demonstrations in Hobbs House Bakery, including scone making at lunchtime and a break making workshop from the Fabulous Baker Brothers.

Among other attractions were a raffle run by Sodbury Town Council, with prizes donated by businesses helping the cover costs of staging the festival.

Sodbury Chamber of Commerce chair Joanne Cox said: “Having grown the event from previous years we felt this year’s Food and Drink Festival was a resounding success, despite the weather.

“People came from far and wide to experience the vast range of foods and drinks. It was fantastic to see the majority of food trucks and stalls that came were local producers.

“We would really like to thank Chipping Sodbury Lions and Chipping Sodbury Venture Scouts for their help with marshalling on the day, and to the talented saxophone player Mark Austin from Yate, who entertained shoppers in Broad Street and Hatherell’s Yard during the afternoon.”