FOOD, glorious food, brought the crowds to Minehead’s Avenue on Saturday for the BID-sponsored

eat:Minehead festival, when dozens of stalls, many from local producers, brought crowds totalling an estimated 7,000, tempted by a wide variety of goodies guaranteed to suit all tastes.

The Avenue was closed to traffic to allow visitors and residents to wander along the lines of stalls sampling everything from chutney and jams to vegan and organic specialities.

The organisers were delighted with the response. A spokesman said: “Covid lessened its grip on Minehead just a little more. People are beginning to lighten up and enjoy themselves once more at fun events like this.

“Forecasters had predicted rain and high winds but this didn’t put off those who had enjoyed the previous eat:Minehead events. People turned out in great numbers and the weather played its part by relenting to an intermittent drizzle on the day.

“Umbrellas were only an occasional sight and those who needed shelter found a welcome in all the cafes in the town.”

Naomi Waters, from Apple Tree Café in The Avenue, said: “We had a great day, with a good mix of our regulars and new visitors. The weather didn’t seem to dampen people’s enjoyment of the day.”

Organisers eat:Festivals ensured there was adequate spacing between the stalls so there was no overcrowding and estimated that more than 7,000 people came into the town centre over the day-long event, which included live music and street entertainers.

Beverley and Sarah Milner-Simonds from eat:Festivals said: “We had a very warm welcome to Minehead, despite the weather. Our local food and drink producers enjoyed good sales and even better conversations with the thousands of locals and tourists who came into town for the day.

“Thank you to Minehead BID for its support and to local estate agents Greenslade Taylor Hunt for their excellent pre-event signage. We look forward to returning to Minehead in the spring."

Minehead BID chairman Graham Sizer said: “The summer has seen a gradual return to something like the trading days of two years ago. eat:Minehead is always very popular and we always looked forward to the event returning to the town.

“We had worries that the weather could have put both residents and visitors off, but this thankfully didn’t happen.

“We hope over recent months Minehead BID has contributed to helping normal trading activity return by attracting more visitors to the town, which has included the Thundercats power-boat races, the 1940s weekend, Minehead Triathlon and now eat:Minehead.

“They’re all helping to keep Minehead high on Somerset’s list of places to visit.”

Lots of photos in tomorrow’s Free Press.