SEPTEMBER sunshine greeted Saturday’s Haslemere Food Festival on Lion Green and crowds flocked to the culinary celebration of food and drink from Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.

A mix of stalls sold cheese, English sparkling wine, beer, organic meat, bread, fudge and chocolate, hot food and drinks, jams, cakes, crepes and ice creams.

Alongside there was live entertainment and activities for children, demonstrations and tastings, and a double decker bus from the Coins Foundation social enterprise group, and not forgetting a stall promoting the Haslemere Herald.

Haslemere’s St John Ambulance group provided the voluntary first aid back-up, and gave demonstrations of CPR, to coincide with the Save a Life September scheme.

Winner of the Haslemere Bake-Off competition, judged by former BBC finalist Miranda Gore Brown, was a “Blackdown” Forest Gateau made using local blackberries and Lurgashall Bramble Liquor.

In second place, was a Penfold Pillar Box cake and in third place, a three-part flag cake showing the flags of twin towns Bernay, in France and Horb-am-Neckar in Germany.

The festival is now in its 10th year and after having been being previoulsy held at various venues across the town in September, has now been condensed into one family-focused day.

Town mayor Melanie Odell, one of the organising committee, said: “There were around 1,500 people there during the wonderfully sunny day. The stallholders all seemed very pleased and it was fantastic to be able to use Lion Green for this community event.”

She added: “Thanks go as usual to all the volunteers who helped set up and take down everything, and on a very warm day.”