Cornwall - Visit Boscastle

Boscastle Food, Arts and Crafts Festival 2009 - 3rd and 4th October

This year sees the fourth festival of food, arts and crafts to be held in Boscastle. The event, born out of a sense of community regeneration following the disastrous flooding of 2004, has now become firmly established on the festival scene and is arguably the biggest of its kind to be held in Cornwall.

Last year's event attracted record crowds and saw the largest gathering yet of the region's best and best-known producers, growers and suppliers, together with some of the most talented chefs in Cornwall, if not the whole country.

This year will be no exception, many of the names who attended in 2008 have already signed up for a return and the list of chefs who've agreed to give their support is growing almost by the day.

We're delighted to announce that making his first appearance at the festival this year will be one of Cornwall's most celebrated chefs and the only one tipped to gain a prestigious second Michelin star in 2009, Nathan Outlaw from the Marina Villa Hotel in Fowey. Another highly acclaimed newcomer to the chefs' stage this year will be Paul Ainsworth from Number 6 in Padstow.  And once again we are pleased to have the support of two of the country's top celebrity chefs, Rick Stein and Jamie Oliver - represented through the Seafood School and Fifteen Cornwall.

One of the most popular and entertaining demonstrators in 2008 - Adrian Oliver from Margot's in Padstow - is also making a return appearance, together with local hotelier and two AA rosette-holder Scott Roberts from the Wellington in Boscastle.  We'll be adding more details of the chefs as and when they're finalised.

Last year's two-day festival was launched with a grand charity concert in the main marquee followed by a Kids' Cook School, which with braised grey squirrel on the menu attracted as much interest from the media  as it did from the local primary school children taking part.

Though there'll be no rodents, grey or otherwise on the menu this year, our village school is again taking advantage of the focus on fresh local food and is taking part in a menu competition for a special banquet to be prepared for the children and served in the splendid surroundings of the Waterloo Restaurant at Boscastle's Wellington Hotel.

The festival venue once again will be the main car park, just yards from Boscastle's historic harbour and final details of park and ride arrangements and prices for this year's festival will soon be available. Many other arts and crafts venues will be located around the village.

If you'd like to be among the exhibitors it may not be too late; more details can be obtained from the Boscastle Visitor Centre, tel. 01840 250010 or directly from event organizer Di Bentall, 01840 250599.