#HFAF22 - a belter of a weekend!

I recently joined the committee for Highcliffe Food and Arts Festival, which took place on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th June 2022. Having been cancelled for the previous two years due to Covid, there was a lot riding on this one being a success. And I’m pleased to say it was a great success, thanks in part to the wall-to-wall sunshine.

We initially thought that people might be food-fested-out as it was the weekend after Christchurch Food Festival, but no. It’s hard to track visitor numbers as it’s a free, un-ticketed event, but organisers think it attracted double the footfall of the previous gathering in 2019. It was certainly busy throughout the weekend, with arts and food traders all doing exceptionally well. Some of them reported their best trade to date!

I worked on the information desk for a large part of the weekend, dishing out certificates and prizes to the young artists whose work was included in the art exhibition and managing the treasure hunt, which proved to be very popular. Every child who gathered the clues to reveal a magic word was rewarded with a book. (I also had to recover lost chefs and create an emergency doggy hydration station, among other things!)

As a new committee member, it was eye-opening to see just what organising a community event like this entails. It was hard, hard work for everyone involved. The level of detail required is enough to put most people off, but when a good team pulls together, it is possible. Teamwork makes the dream work!

There were many highlights of my weekend, one of which had to be the two older ladies who insisted on having their photo taken sticking their heads through the photo board I’d painted for the kids. I agreed to take their photo and then help them up off the floor as they couldn’t get up!

Another was witnessing Will Firmin, owner/chef at plant-based Crow Spotter cafe, smashing his first ever cookery demonstration to a capacity audience. I’d suggested Will, so was relieved (but unsurprised) that he did me proud. His charm, humour and honesty overrode any nerves he was feeling, and he did a brilliant job of cooking up tofu scramble with avocado, pickled carrot and microgreens.

The committee is meeting soon to talk about lessons learned and to start planning how to make next year’s event even better. I can’t wait.