Ten Top Tips for a Successful Festival

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25 June 2014

Inspired to visit the UK’s largest free seafood festival 12-13 July? We asked the experts how to make the most of the weekend.

1. Festival Director, Brian Cooper: ‘Before you set out to taste some amazing seafood dishes and drink Pommery Champagne at the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival, make sure you visit our mobile-friendly website www.dorsetseafood.co.uk and download the latest iPhone app.  Make the most of all the competitions taking place in the run up to and throughout the weekend thanks to Pommery Champagne, Weird Fish Clothing and ARA Wines’.
2. Festival Logistics Manager, Paul Mills: ‘Summer is the busiest time for Weymouth so plan ahead, use the Park & Ride or take the train.  South West Trains is our official travel sponsor and you can get some good deals if you book early.   You can also listen to regular traffic reports with our radio sponsor, Wessex FM.’
3. PR Manager, Anna Wallis: ‘When you’ve arrived, get a free guide from one of our lovely Weymouth Volunteers, and why not take a moment to savour the atmosphere whilst planning what to do, eat or drink next.’
4. Passionate About Fish Experts, Duncan and Sue Lucas: ‘Try a species of seafood you’ve never tasted before.  Join in with our demos, whelk and crab picking sessions or learn to shuck an oyster.  And when we are not filleting a fish, we’ll be having a ‘Pint of Piddle’ in the Piddle bar!’
5. Fishermen’s Mission Trust and Corporate Fundraising Manager, Chris Hirst: ‘The Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival 2014 is a great opportunity to experience an celebrate a diverse range of seafood whilst also helping to raise funds for the Fishermen’s Mission, the national charity that delivers emergency response and welfare help to active and retired fishermen and their families. We’re proud to be the Official Charity of the event and there are many ways to support us over the weekend from raffle tickets, fish auctions to simply making a donation.
6. Chef Proprietor of the Dining Room, Taher Jibet: ‘Visit my ‘Great British Whelk Revival’ stand where I will be creating exclusive recipes including Tabasco^® brand Pepper Sauce.  Whelks are nourishing, plentiful and low cost but 95% of them are exported to the Far East.  We need to get the whelk back on our menus and into our fishmongers’.
7. Pommery UK Director, Sara Hicks: ‘Time to relax. Dip into one of the many Pommery bars around the harbour where you can taste some of Pommery’s award winning champagnes. Pommery is a perfect partner with seafood, so enjoy a glass of Pommery Brut Royal with Dorset Oysters, expertly shucked by Pete Miles and his team from Storm & The Cruel Sea or pick up a Pommery picnic hamper, full of delicious Dorset delicacies and chill out on the harbour side or on the beach’.
8. Exhibitor Manager, Laura Avant: ’In addition to the many delicious seafood stands, there’s something for all the family, from crabbing to face painting, a whelk trail and whelk shell painting.  You can also take mackerel boat trips or, if you feel like sitting back and absorbing the festival vibe, enjoy a full programme of live music in Hope Square.  The line up includes the Fishwives Choir, Exmouth Shanty Men and Replay’.
9. Crab House Cafe Chef and Oyster Bed Fisherman, Nigel Bloxham: ‘We’ve a great line up of chefs, experts, demos and talks this year on the main stage and in the Seafish Marquee.    The programmes will be in your on-site guide but do join me for the Festival Whelkcome at 10:30 am each day; my ARA Wines Food & Wine Matching Demo with Neil Phillips – AKA The Wine Tipster on the Sunday; and don’t forget to have a go at whelk, crab and oyster picking in the Seafish Marquee’.
10. And finally, a note from Festival Chairman, Roger Dalton: ‘As a legacy event from the 2012 Olympics we’d like everyone to make the most of Weymouth and the surrounding area throughout the weekend.  Please give generously to the Fishermen’s Mission and most of all, have fun!

Full press release here (Word doc)