Thousands attend first New Forest Food Festival on the Hinton Admiral Estate

THE first New Forest Food Festival has been hailed a success after more than 8,000 people attended the two-day event.

Held at the Hinton Admiral Estate in Christchurch at the weekend, the event was so popular that some traders sold out of their produce.

More than 100 sellers had a selection of glorious New Forest and regional produce for sale, with a mix of artisan bread, cheese, chilli jams, cakes, chocolates, gluten-free snacks, shortbread, craft ales, New Forest Cider and speciality gins.

Visitors were also entertained with chef demos, live music, a kids’ zone, and some classic fairground stalls, including a coconut shy.

Organisers say they had hoped for around 6,000 visitors but were “delighted that the figure was smashed out of the park”.

Richard Shirley told the A&T: “The sun was shining, and we had lots of happy traders, and lots of happy customers as well.

“Some traders sold out of two days of cheese within three hours, two days of cider within four, and the New Forest Bacon Company were so successful they sold out of two days of stock within two hours and went home and made sausages all night, so they could sell more on the Sunday, and sold out again!”

He added: “Overall, a great weekend was had by all, and for a first-time festival we are all blown away with how it went, although it was not without its challenges.

“With two hours to go our entire Wi-Fi system went down with a hardware error and we had to fully replace the kit to open, which we did, exactly on time.

“[It was] a massive team effort and we have all learned so much. We loved putting it on and loved all the positive comments received.

“We will definitely be back in 2025 and are just confirming our dates. So watch this space!”

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