Food Glorious Food... And Drink

The weekend of 9th and 10th April saw St Anne’s square bustling with people, getting their taste buds tickled at St Anne’s Enterprise Partnership’s (STEP) Food and Drink Festival. The event brought over 40 food and drink independent business stalls to fill the town centre, with a large marquee on one of the main carparks.

The food and drink stalls were ready from Saturday morning to entice and inspire tastebuds. There were hot and cold items to enjoy whilst wandering around or to take home. The goods on offer included cheeses, olives, cakes, bakes, cheesecakes, shimmer drinks, preserves, hot meats, crepes, doughnuts, churros, sweets, scotch eggs, pies, flavoured shaved ice, pizza, Thai and Greek food, drinks, award winning eastern European treats, bakes, ice cream milkshake and there was even some treats for dogs.

The marquee played host to Drinks Tasting Sessions on the Saturday with Lytham Gin, Goosnargh Gin, Wild Fox and Black Powder distilleries tempting ticket holders to sample their range of drinks, including their new rums, making over 25 options available to try. 

 There were two amazing, local singers, Emily Rhodes and Edward Rhodes, to entertain the drinkers and some incredible food platters of nibbles. The atmosphere was fantastic inside the marquee during both the afternoon and evening sessions.

The Drinks Day also marked the official launch of Unity Charter Gin, created to celebrate 100 years since the amalgamation of Lytham and St Annes-on-the-Sea under one municipality, Sandgrown Spirits (Lytham Gin) in collaboration with Fylde Council, created this celebratory blend. A premium strength London Dry style gin with coastal botanicals from the two towns. Marsh Samphire from Lytham, Seabuckthorn from St Annes and Sea Aster which grows in between.

The label was created by local graphic designer, Andrew Redfearn and features the mermaid found in the mosaic in St Annes cradling the ship from Lytham’s coat of arms.

On Sunday a few of the distilleries remained in the marquee, while nine St Anne’s food businesses provided demonstrations and free taster samples to the awaiting crowds. Gigli’s, Le Patio, Gemma, The Firepit, Oliver’s, Allegria, Imli, Spice Paradise and Anatolia Seaview – English butchery, India, Thailand, Mediterranean, Italian and Turkish were all on show in St Anne’s from these local businesses, demonstrating their signature dishes.

GIGLI’S - demonstrated different cuts of meat, why we slow cook some cuts and not others. Also, they discussed the benefits of dry-aged steaks.

LE PATIO – made Chicken Satay Skewers.

GEMMA INDIAN RESTAURANT – cooked Onion Bhajis and Samosas.

THE FIREPIT - demonstrated butchering a full fillet and cooking it. They also cooked their signature ribs for everyone to try. OLIVERS – cooked three huge pans of Paella, both the traditional seafood, along with a chicken and chorizo version.

ALLEGRIA ITALIAN – made Allegria Mare, a home-made pasta ravioli, filled with prawns and crab meat, served on a bisque sauce.

IMLI – cooked their most popular curry, a Chicken Handi.

SPICE PARADISE – made Thais soups, a Tom Kha coconut and a Tom Yum soup.

ANATOLIA SEA VIEW – making our final dish of Vegetarian Moussaka. A popular dish from this Turkish restaurant.

STEP Chairman and Owner of Anatolia Seaview, Veli Kirk commented, “It was amazing to see the St Anne’s so busy, with everyone enjoying the Festival. We put on a fantastic event and had the town buzzing, with people enjoying the

entertainment inside the marquee, outside browsing and buying from the stalls, but also in the town’s regular businesses. It was all about creating an experience to encourage footfall, so the people see what we have to offer and come to visit the town again. We want to make sure that St Anne’s is busy all year round, not just during the tourist season, to support the local business economy.”

STEP, a group of local volunteers, hope to make this successful festival an annual event and are now working towards the return of their Christmas Market, after the amazing reviews of their first one last year. The group are focussed on putting St Anne’s very firmly on the map as a place to visit.

Veli continued, “We held the first ever Christmas Market in Ashton Gardens, St Anne’s, last year and it was a huge hit, both with visitors, residents and businesses. Even during the event people were asking if it would be annual and stalls were wanting to book for the following year. After a good rest after the Festival, this will be our next major event and the team of dedicated volunteers will be working on this next project.

We also need to send our letter early to Father Christmas, to make sure he can come and join us in the Grotto again.

We couldn’t do these projects without our supporters, volunteers, businesses, Fylde Borough Council and St Anne’s Town Council, but most of all our fantastic community, including social media groups for sharing, helping us to spread the word. When we all work together, we make an amazing team!” n