Boldre school William Gilpin to host fundraising food festival
A FOOD festival will be hosted later this month for the first time by a New Forest school to raise funds for an all-weather pitch in its grounds.
A hand-picked selection of street food trucks will feature at the event, organised by the Friends of William Gilpin School in Boldre.
These include the Tipsy Toastie, based in Bournemouth, Arty-Stan Pizza with their freshly-baked Neapolitan creations, and Dibden Purlieu-based No Forx Given, which specialises in Mexican tacos and curries.
Other producers will be based within the school hall, including New Forest Shortbread, Norleywood Honey and Bournemouth-based Sancha, which specialises in Japanese-inspired sweet bakes and cookies.
Parents will also be on hand selling a range of dishes, from South African bakes to vegan salads.
A good range of beverages will also be on offer, with New Milton’s Hourglass micropub pitching up alongside The Island Box, with its Mauritian rum cocktails, and Lymington-based Priory Wines.
Creating the festival vibe will be DJ Joe Muggs, a regular at Camp Bestival, with his live sets, and an array of straw bales from which to sit and soak up the atmosphere.
The Friends have stepped up their efforts to raise money for the school in the last year, with the food festival being the latest in a series of fundraising events.
A spokesperson said: “The school playing field is a beautiful space but it does get very muddy and waterlogged in the winter, so much so that the children can’t play on it at all when it’s wet.
“We want to keep most of the grass but add an all-weather section to the rear field so the kids can continue to enjoy playing and doing sports all year round.”
In the 2021/22 school year, the group raised more than £10,000 profit through the usual summer fete, a Christmas market, Santa dash, movie nights, a Valentine’s 'crafternoon', World Book Day readathon and regular cake sales.
The food festival, which runs between midday and 3pm on Sunday 25th September, is open to all.
The event is fully licensed and there is ample parking in the village playing field just down the road from school.
