Another weekend, another food festival... and Oswestry grub is too good to resist

Oswestry Food & Drink Festival has been running this weekend, and visitors turned out in their droves to tantalise their taste buds with a variety of wares.

It was another weekend, another food festival in Shropshire, but despite the Shrewsbury and Ludlow events running earlier this month, Salopians still found room in their bellies to enjoy a scrumptious selection when proceedings began on Saturday.

The Little Fudge Box, run by Richard "Fudgy" Mountford, was one of many stalls doing a roaring trade as folk enjoyed free tasting samples before making a purchase.

He said: "It's good to see the vibrancy in the town. We're from just the other side of the border, but Oswestry is our closest town. I've seen quite a few people I know out and about. It's been great to bring a bit of life back to the town."

Normally the event runs in July, but due to concern over coronavirus restrictions, it was delayed until September this year.

Thankfully, the weather was kind to vendors and customers, as everyone took in the party atmosphere. A couple of ladies on stilts brought smiles and a splash of colour to the day, as they teetered around the streets and posed for selfies.

Henstone Distillery boss Chris Toller hailed the sunshine, as he enjoyed telling visitors about his award-winning gins and whiskeys.

"I think this is the busiest I've ever seen it," he said. "We've been very lucky with the weather so far. We were down here setting up at 8.30am and it was amazing how many people were out and about at that time of day. I may run out of stock of some products, but I'll go back to the distillery and stock up again for tomorrow."

During the two-day festival, food and drink exhibitors from the region baked and brewed to fill their stalls with goods for sale and sample.

The streets were alive with aromas of African, Middle-Eastern, Malaysian, Indian, and Spanish cooking. The was also plenty of top local produce on show from sausages to hog roast, and crepes to ciders.

Another stall that proved popular was Gillham's delicatessen. Manager Rob Wolstenholme spent plenty of time going backwards and forward from the Church Street shop to re-stock the street stall with popular sausage rolls.

"We've had great feedback so far," he said. "Everyone is here to support local businesses in the town and it seems to be going really well. This is great for the town."

Those exploring the festival were also asked to support the independent coffee shops and retailers throughout Oswestry

There was also a TNS fun day at Cae Glas Park to enjoy yesterday. Today there will be the popular Global Grooves Music in the park.

For more information visit the website, oswestryfoodfestival.co.uk, or follow its page on Facebook.