Success for Shropshire’s first ever free from festival
Organisers of Shropshire’s first ever free from festival today vowed to build on its success - with plans for 2020 already under way.
The event saw hundreds of people descend on the Greenhous West Midlands Showground in Shrewsbury to find out more about free-from lifestyles and allergies and intolerances.
Chefs took to the cookery theatre stage to cook up a variety of dairy-free, gluten-free, Vegan and low-carb delights, while the lecture theatre saw visitors learn about raw chocolate, Vegan wine, reducing plastic, combating allergies and more.
Children at the event enjoyed a ‘free-from technology’ area, having fun with Juggling Jim and his circus tricks, a straw pool and mud kitchens, while visitors browsed the traders’ village, offering ‘free-from’ food and products and the lunch quarter, which provided free-from cuisine and dairy-free ice cream.
Organiser Ian Bebbington said the first ‘free-from’ festival went really well.
He said: “We were delighted to see lots of people visiting the showground, especially as the weather wasn’t great. It was fantastic when the sun did come out later in the afternoon.
“People were really interested in hearing from others already living a free-from lifestyle due to allergies or choice and Frestival was the perfect way to get more information.
“We have had such great feedback from both traders and the guests and the whole event has been very inspiring for us all.”
The event also welcomed the Shropshire Veggies and Vegans group who were able to give visitors information and goodie bags, talk about the Vegan lifestyle - and learn the tips and tricks to living it.
It also boasted a vegan bar with Darren from Gindifferent and Tom Holt from Paso Primero able to talk about the free-from refreshments they were serving.
Mr Bebbington said: “The Centre of Integral Health workshops and demonstrations were fully booked all day and we had praise for all of our producers about their knowledge and friendliness throughout the entire event.”
He said there was a really relaxed feel at Frestival.
“We will be sitting down to discuss next year but this event was a real group effort with all of the chefs and speakers involved and we will be once again turning to the experts of the free-from world to help us put together an amazing line-up for 2020,” he said.
