Helen Lloyd & Serin Aubrey, Dartmouth Food Festival
Back in 2002 a group of Dartmouth foodies got together to celebrate great West Country cuisine. Now in its 14th year, the town’s Food Festival attracts thousands of people from across Britain to sample local breads, biscuits and bubbles. Steph Woolvin had a chat with two of the organisers, Helen Lloyd and Serin Aubrey, to find out how much work is involved.
Helen Lloyd
Tell us about your role as secretary?
Well there’s a lot of paperwork! I pull together all the information for the programme, deal with applications from stallholders, health and safety issues, parking permits, licences and I arrange all the meetings. (Serin quickly adds that the wheels would fall off without Helen!)
Is it hard work?
It can be! We have a small team of 17 members who put in so much of their time before and during the festival. We start planning the next one as soon as the last one finishes. I actually find myself planning my year according to Food Festival deadlines, the way parents plan according to term dates! My husband says sometimes I do need to let it go when I’m sat in bed at 11pm checking if all the stallholders have paid their fees!
How long have you been involved?
I helped out with the first couple when my husband and I moved to Dartmouth. Then I had a break and have been involved again since 2014. When we first moved here we were only supposed to visit for six months then we bought the Good Intent and never left!
How many stallholders ask to be part of the festival each year?
A lot, the event really is popular. This year we had 250 apply for 110 places.
So how do you choose?
Our priority is to offer visitors a wide range of the highest quality local and artisan produce. We strongly favour products and companies from within the South West using locally sourced ingredients where possible. Then it’s up to us to sit down and make sure there’s not too much overlap and that there’s always something a bit different for people to try. We try and mix things up a bit so we have different faces and new companies every year. Then we decide who goes where as there are four locations, some in marquees some out in the open, it’s like a big jigsaw.
Do you get a good reaction from locals?
Yes, people really seem to look forward to the event. The tourism trade benefits too – I’m already getting emails and calls from b&b owners asking the dates of the 2017 festival!
Will you get to enjoy the event or be run off your feet?
Definitely the latter! I’m always making sure everyone is in the correct place, dealing with phone calls from stallholders who can’t find a parking space or running back and forward to get supplies like trolley loads of pumpkins! Everyone else is enjoying the food and I often sit down on the Sunday night and realise I pretty much forgot to eat!!
Serin Aubrey
What is the aim of festival?
To showcase all that is good about local food and drink. There are many hidden gems out there that people never knew existed. We have to eat everyday to live but it shouldn’t be a chore - we should enjoy it and the festival helps make food fun.
What is your role?
I’m the Festival Chef Director, so I help co-ordinate all the food based events in the lead up and through the festival weekend. That could include creating menus for fundraising events or making 100 dinners at the pre-festival party.
How long have you been interested in food?
I decided I wanted to be a chef when I was quite young and did my training in the South East at the age of 18. Then I worked in London under Sir Terence Conran. A few years later my family moved to a farm in Blackawton and I soon followed them.
The festival gets mentioned in national newspapers and you attract well-known chefs. Will Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay be on the bill next year?
(Laughs) We’re not really sure we have the money to pay for people like that! To be honest we like to showcase local talent.
How has it changed over the years?
It was quite a low-key affair back at the start with only a few venues, one or two chefs and hardly any stalls at all - very different to today! It’s always been in October though – it’s so we have something to look forward to after Regatta and to attract visitors during the quiet autumn months.
Is it possible that the festival has now got too big?
Not yet. It’s manageable. We’re letting it grow organically, so it never gets ahead of us. The most important thing is that we keep Dartmouth at the heart. Logistically it’s harder doing it in the town centre. We could easily put up a few massive marquees on Coronation Park but we want people to wander through the streets to find all the different events, stopping in local shops and cafes as they go.
Who buys the essential supplies?
Usually myself, Helen and a couple of members of the committee. We also have lots of great local business that donate food and crockery and we always use local suppliers for meat, fish and vegetables where we can. But there’s always a big run to a supermarket for the basics just before the festival as well! There are so many small detail items needed for the demos and workshops like tasting spoons and bowls, napkins, and cooking oil.
And who does the cleaning up?
Our members and our fantastic volunteers. We have 250 on our database and 50/60 on the ground during the event. They wash up after demos, sweep the marquee floors, empty the bins – just about everything. At the end we get a professional cleaning company in to remove oil and grease from the pavement, they make it look like we were never there.
Where will you be during the three days?
I will be busy on my Dartmouth Fine Foods stand but will definitely try and sample a few other delicacies.
So have you already started planning next year’s?
Yes - the dates are October 20th – 22nd. One of our main themes next year is recyclable packaging. When stallholders apply we’ll be asking whether they can provide cardboard containers for food and find an alternative to plastic lids for drinks. Also to consider not using plastic bags.
If you’re interested in volunteering email office@dartmouthfoodfestival.com
First published By The Dart magazine October 2016
