The Great Wight Bite! THE new food and drink festival for the Isle of Wight!

In conversation with Richard Nowell of the Great Wight Bite Food and Drink Festival.

This is a special episode of the podcast which is bringing the exciting news of the first Great Wight Bite Festival! This is taking place on the 9/10 September 2023 at Northwood House in Cowes! I was so excited when I heard about this festival earlier this year. So I contacted Richard to find out more about the plans. I have watched as the festival has come together. That it is only weeks away now, I am getting so excited!

At the begining of 2023 I started planning the podcast based on my research into the food and drink producers here on the island. I had thought about getting a food festival together but I know how much work is involved, the time it takes and sometimes it can be just a huge uphill battle at times!

Having done exactly the same with the Wallingford Food Festival in 2011, I started from nothing and in ten weeks had funding of around £5k plus over 20 producers signed up! I also had a site which was home to the festival for five years. With alot of work on social media as it was then, PR work on the radio, in the papers and so on the day of the first festival saw a thousand people walk through the gates! Learning quickly and applying the learnings to the next year the festival improved and grew year on year. It also won three awards for tourism in that time as well.

Five years of running it and essiatlly non-stop year on year moving from one event to the next I realised I could not do this on my own. While I had a small team in the weeks running up to and after the festival. The pressure is applied once the festival is over and you realy do not stop thinking and working on the festival.

Don’t get me wrong! I loved the festival, it’s challenges and its successes. Working with producers, sponsors and some great organisations that partnered with us was amazing! I took an immense amount of satisfaction and pride in achieving the things we achieved in five years. I could not have done it without friends and family supporting and volunteering their time. It was a great experience and I know what is involved so I wish the Great Wight Bite team well for this first year and will help and support them where I can

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The idea of a festival celebrating the food, drink, chefs, restaurants and the range of hospitality here on the island is so exciting. In my chat with Richard Nowell, he talks about festivals he runs and why the Great Wight Bite is important. Covering all the exciting things planned and the sponsors, chefs, producers and so on. This is a festival you don't want to miss!

Please check the website, ⁠⁠The Great Wight Bite ⁠⁠for all the information and to buy tickets. The great news is they are not expensive. As you will hear, Richard and his team have planned for a wide range of food to be on offer, so that you can try several cuisines during your visit!

Also check social media Facebook, Instagram for updates and news about the weekend. @greatwightbite on both, I believe.

You can subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast provider, just search for FoodandMusicIOW. It's available from Spotify, Amazon, Google, and Apple, plus a few more!

Find out more about me, got to ⁠⁠The Island Chef Links⁠⁠

Go to The Island Chef to listen to the podcast.

Thank you for reading and listening!