REVIEW
RECONNECTING WITH FRIENDS It was difficult to imagine, while strolling around Fruit Focus on one of the hottest days of the summer so far, that the event had nearly been wiped out less than 24 hours before – by something described by those who experienced it as a “mini tornado”. Staff and contractors had to return to the site at East Malling to reconfigure and rebuild the site after strong winds and torrential rain destroyed the main speakers’ tent, wrecked sophisticated PA equipment and left the organisers grateful that it
had not happened the following day. Instead, the day of the event dawned sunny and warm, allowing visitors who had endured 15 months or so of Covid-enforced Zoom sessions to attend the popular show, hosted by NIAB EMR, reconnect with friends, chat to suppliers and just enjoy a return to something like normality. Organisers Comexposium were careful to make the event Covid-19 safe, although the huge central space designed to ensure adequate social distancing
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> Mark Else, NIAB EMR
SEPTEMBER 2021 | WWW.SOUTHEASTFARMER.NET
