Over 3,000 people attended the first ever Barnes Food Fair on October 1st and gave it rave reviews all round.
The nearly sixty stands selling artisan foods ranging from watercress muffins to smoked duck and English wines had all but sold out by the end of the day, and hundreds of people staged impromptu picnics on beautiful Barnes Green enjoying the fantastic food and the sunny weather.
As well as some wonderful food stalls, visitors also enjoyed cookery demonstrations from Michelin-starred chefs and were given vouchers to save money at Barnes' small local food shops.
The day raised thousands of pounds for the Barn Elms Sports Trust (a charity maintaining Barnes' local playing fields for the use of local children and sports clubs) and attracted lots of new visitors to Barnes who will hopefully return to sample the great food available at our local shops, pubs and restaurants.
Among the celebrities enjoying the day's fantastic atmosphere were Barnes residents Holly Willoughby, Kate Silverton and Gyles Brandreth – who said "Bravo, what a triumph ... we had a ball. We tried to visit all 59 stands and came away loaded with goodies."
One of the aims of the day was to showcase Barnes to visitors outside the area and promote local shops. Feedback already received shows that this worked.
A visitor from Twickenham said "WOW that's all I can say. I've lived in Twickenham for two years but have never been into Barnes in that time. Please can you pass on my thanks to the organisers of the food fair. It was very well planned, had great variety and a fabulous atmosphere. I even managed to find a supplier of chocolate for a Christmas ball that I'm organising! I will certainly be a regular visitor to Barnes now."
Many of the exhibitors used the @barnesfoodfair tag on Twitter to say how well the fair had gone for them...
PickleandRye (@PickleandRye) "Over 130 sandwiches made yesterday (sold out!) at@barnesfoodfair. A great success and more importantly - love for the Reuben is growing."
The House Wine (@thehousewine) "@barnesfoodfair, new event but what a day! Too tired to tweet last night. Met lots of great people, talked wine all day. Lots of rosé drunk."
JollyHog and Sausage (@JollyHog) "what a great day we had at @barnesfoodfair thanks to all that came to see us and the wonderful people we met. Top day"
The Paticular Kitchen (@particularmolly) "We had an amazing day @barnesfoodfair! Loads of lovely people stopped by our stall today - all banana bread gone! :)"
The French Dressing Company (@FrenchDressingC) "We are exhausted but had a great day @barnesfoodfair Thank you to everyone who came. See you soon!"
Squid & Pear (@SquidandPear) "MAHOOSIVE queue to get in @barnesfoodfair! And we're nearly out of #oysters already! One of the best events we've done to date..." and "Complete sell-out!! Bloody love Barnes : )"
