Eat, drink and be merry at Hamilton food festival

May 7 2009 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

SPORTACUS will be one of the attractions at Hamilton’s second annual food festival which takes place on Saturday.

The children’s television favourite will join specialist stallholders from across Scotland offering an array of food, drink, arts and crafts.

Quarry Street is the venue for the market which will take place between 9am and 5pm.

It’s part of a programme that includes a beer festival at the George, Campbell Street, Hamilton, and a homeware/cookware demonstration at Bairds.

Sportacus, from the popular children’s TV show Lazy Town, will be meeting people between 1pm to 4pm.

For the uninitiated, Sportacus is a force for good in that he encourages the kids of Lazy Town to eat fruit, which he calls ‘sports candy’, and play outside instead of sitting around indoors.

As well as mingling with the crowds on the day, Sportacus will also be up on the stage performing his acrobatic stunts and tricks, as seen on TV.

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

For the food lovers there will be stalls featuring fresh beef and lamb from the foothills of Tinto Hill, preserves and chutneys, fruit wines, Caithness Cheese and farmhouse cheese from the far north of Scotland

Award-winning pie specialists Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies, from the Biggar area will have a stall, and Thankerton farmer Michael Shannon, will be selling his own beef and lamb.

Stained-glass art specialist Christine Reid, from Lanark. will be among those craft workers showcasing their work.

She will be joined by jeweller Sarah Urie, who lives near Biggar, Nepalese craft specialist Lorraine McGhee, from Blantyre, and Newarthill jeweller Veronica Wilson.

Other stalls will sell silver jewellery, perfume bottles, miniature clocks, art and artwork gifts, picture frames and bottle stoppers, pottery products, silver gemset jewellery, and handmade jewellery.

There will also be specialist stalls with Horncraft and handmade cards, fairly traded African Butterfly beaded hair clips CDs, DVDs and books.

Aloe Vera and beehive products, handmade bags and accessories made from recycled fabric and hand-painted wooden beads will also be on sale.

Those showcasing their work are coming to Hamilton from across Scotland and as far away as Poland.

A prize of a five-week authentic Italian cookery course for two people (on a Monday or Tuesday night) at Pietruccio, Campbell Street, Hamilton, will be on offer.

There will also be competitions for meals vouchers at a variety of Hamilton restaurants.

The beer festival at the George Bar will featuring a variety of Scottish ales and a special ‘Homecoming’ Scottish menu.

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

They will also be 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.

The market is a mini version of the successful November Christmas market held in Lanark town centre.

It annually attracts more than 8000 visitors. If Saturday's market is a success, it is hoped to stage a much larger Lanark-sized market in Quarry Street during November.