Food festival serves up plenty of tasty treats

May 14 2009 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

THE torrential rain didn’t dampen spirits as shoppers were treated to a taste of something different at Hamilton’s second annual food festival in Quarry Street.

A range of specialist food was on sale at Saturday’s event, including meat from rare breeds such as Tamworth pigs and Highland cattle.

Elsewhere, shoppers could buy beef and lamb raised on the foothills of Tinto by Michael Shannon of Damn Delicious, or sample some of the award-winning range of pies from Coulter-based firm Simple Simon’s Pies.

Farmhouse cheese from Caithness and a range of biscuits, hand-made to authentic historical recipes dating back to Roman times, were also on sale, as well as honey from Poland and fruit wines from Perthshire.

Despite the almost non-stop rain, shoppers still found time to browse the food stalls and some of the specialist craft stalls showcasing a range of paintings, jewellery, bags, horncraft, pottery, stained glass and other items.

To keep the children busy, ‘Sportacus’, from hit kids’ TV show LazyTown, made a special appearance, teaching people the virtues of eating healthy and exercise.

As well as mingling with the crowds on the day, ‘Sportacus’ was also on stage performing his acrobatic stunts and tricks, as seen on TV.

Also entertaining the crowd was Jokers Wild, who mix live music with on-stage comedy.

The programme included a beer festival at The George, on Campbell Street, Hamilton, and a homeware/cookware demonstration at Bairds.

Lanarkshire’s only re-enactment group, Medieval Clydesdale also took part, giving demonstrations, and selling a range of historical-themed items while trying to recruit new members.

They were also promoting Scotland’s Festival of History, one of the UK’s biggest re-enactment events, which takes place at Lanark Racecourse on August 22-23.