 |
| Macaroon madness |
Food festivals are always full of interesting characters. I had a long chat with Mandy the Macaroon lady about her hand made product and balancing the sweetness of the chewy meringue with the zestiness of a lemon. Including lemon in this sweet treat gives it that fruity ‘five a day’ feel – could it scrape into the healthy snack bracket? I think not. Cuddy Duck hand made chocolates include such fascinating flavours as sesame seed and wasabe, and grapefruit and pepper chocolate. Curiouser and curiouser. You could even buy your own chocolate golden ticket to the chocolate factory!
 |
| The Bellman belts it out |
The Town Crier was there of course.
Retired John Stevens is the incumbent Common Bellman in Alnwick and takes his role very seriously. Town criers were a means of mass communication long before the internet. They rang their bells and just shouted stuff out really loud outside. Sometimes I find that’s still the only way to get people’s attention. He is also a Fellow of the Loyal Company of Town Criers and a Fellow of the Britannic Guild of Toastmasters.
 |
| A Guaranteed winner! |
 |
| Choosing chocolate chore |
Other interesting possibilities included the hottest chillies in the world which were for sale, three for a pound. Quite how you could prove this claim, I’m not sure.
 |
| Pain for a pound |
Other entertainment in the market place included an impressive fire juggler. He had come all the way from Bournemouth on the South Coast, which is a bit like coming from the planet Galifrey if you live in Alnwick, North Northumberland . He was awfully good though, and in between tricks with his fire stick he promoted the Scandinavian speed chopping device on the nearby stall.
 |
| Dangerous flares |
You really can’t beat the taste of home made food. The big supermarkets have become so much a part of the fabric of British life that small local producers are becoming rarer and rarer. The Alnwick food festival is fighting back against our culture of Coco pops, Pot noodle and microwave meals..O Yay!
 |
| Bustling Alnwick Food Festival 2012 |
