By Tilly Walder
The Garlic Festival last weekend was a huge success, proving itself a tremendous event offering fun for all the family, breaking records of the number of visitors.
It showcased a wide range of Island produce and homemade crafts, as well as renowned chefs, Robert Thompson and Jayne Mugridge, who displayed their culinary talents. Live music set the background to the whole weekend, with performances from talented bands such as The Ohmz, The Missing Heads and Foo Fighterz.
Children enjoyed visits from much loved characters Bluey and Titan the Robot, and had the opportunity to get their picture taken with them.
Co-organiser, Laura Stocker, said: “This was our busiest-ever Garlic festival; it was great to see so many people having a wonderful family day out. Mercifully, the weather was very kind to us.
“When we finish the huge clear-up, we’ll take a short break and start planning our 41st year. As long as people want to keep coming, we’ll keep it going.
“A huge thank you to all of our amazing volunteers and helpers, without whom it just couldn’t happen. Their support is vital to our amazing charities who raise so much from being here. We’re all very proud of putting on such a terrific community event.”
It was my first time attending a summer event as a member of the IW Observer team, and it was excellent – I even got to try a variety of new garlic products. I enjoyed hearing feedback from our regular readers, and even having holidaymakers take an interest in the paper and picking up a copy. I look forward to my next event.
Visit our on-line gallery to see if our photographer managed to catch you at the Garlic Festival: iow.life/garlicfestpics
Isle of Wight Observer