Come and enjoy the very best tastes of the
south east this May Day Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday at the Weald &
Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton, near Chichester, West Sussex.
England’s leading museum of historic buildings and traditional rural life
will be hosting its ever-popular Food Fair in and among the historic
buildings on its beautiful 50 acre downland site.
The Food and Farming Fair is jointly
organised by the Museum and ‘A Taste of Sussex’, who, under the umbrella of
Sussex Enterprise, provide a comprehensive support service for the counties’
food and drink producers, helping them to expand their markets and make
their products more accessible to the consumer. The award-winning Museum
accommodates the numerous trade stands throughout the site, bringing
together the three great influences on our lives - food, culture and
landscape - in one great taste celebration. The event is extremely popular
with visitors and exhibitors alike, with more than 80 producers from the
region presenting a stunning array of local fare, from wines, sauces, ciders
and beers to locally-produced meat, cheese, ice cream, cakes and
confectionery. As well as the opportunity to browse and buy, there will be a
number of talks and cooking demonstrations throughout the event.
This year the event will again include a
showcase of downland farming, with a number of activities and demonstrations
to interest all the family. There will be displays of farming implements and
machinery around the Museum’s site, including vintage and modern
tractors, and a threshing drum. The Interpretation Team will be hard
at work, with various farming related demonstrations, including 17th century
herbs in the Museum’s historic Poplar Cottage, and a seed potting activity.
Visitors will also be able to experience what it would have been like to
work in the Museum’s authentic Tudor Kitchen – sights, smells, smoke and
all!
If you start feeling peckish as you discover
all these culinary delights, there will be a delicious hog roast on offer,
and the Museum’s own café will be supplying its usual tasty homemade fare,
including biscuits and cakes made with wholemeal stoneground flour ground in
the seventeenth century watermill. As well as caring for rescued historic
buildings, the Museum undertakes many aspects of traditional farming,
highlighting the importance of agriculture to our rural ancestors. Shire
horses and working cattle carry out seasonal agricultural tasks; traditional
breed sheep, Tamworth pigs, geese and chickens are raised on the site, and
traditional cereal crops are sown in the field strips.
The Food and Farming Fair will be open on 2 &
3 May from 10.30am – 5pm. Admission charges are: adults £9, over 60s £8.15;
children £4.80, family ticket £24.75, and include a full day’s entry to all
the Museum buildings and outdoor exhibits.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The
award-winning Weald & Downland Open Air Museum has over 45 historic building
exhibits and is designated by the Government for the outstanding importance
of its collections. Exhibits include a medieval farmstead; a working
watermill producing wholemeal stoneground flour; exhibitions focusing on
traditional building techniques and agriculture; historic gardens, farm
livestock and a working Tudor kitchen. The Museum runs a well-established
programme of courses in building conservation and rural crafts. There is a
café which uses the Museum’s own flour and a shop with gifts and books on
countryside and buildings themes. The modern Downland Gridshell houses the
Museum’s building conservation centre and artefact collection. There is a
daily tour at 1.30pm when the Museum is open, and an appointments system for
visits to the collections for research purposes.
NOTE TO EDITORS
Reporters and photographers are welcome at the Museum.
For
further information call the Museum information line on 01243 811348 or
contact Cathy Clark, Marketing Officer
Tel:
01243
811014.
Fax:
01243 811475
Email:
marketing@wealddown.co.uk.
Full
details about the Museum and its activities can be found at
www.wealddown.co.uk
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