Positive discussions for Marlborough to have a two-day major Food and Wine Festival next May have been held between the town council and John Rhodes, organiser of the similar event successfully staged annually in Cheltenham.
And provided that consultations with the Marlborough Common Users Group are successful, then a new festival for the town will not only herald tourist visitors but also boost the local economy.
Mr Rhodes, who runs Garden Events, made an initial approach to the council last month, suggesting a food and wine festival in July complete with marquees, cooking demonstrations and wine tastings, including a champagne garden, festival café ad 30 individual stalls.
But it was within weeks of Marlborough’s International Jazz Festival and also clashed with events already booked for the Common and also raised potential parking problems.
The council’s Amenities and Open Spaces Committee, chaired by Councillor Richard Pitts, turned down that proposal but has now held talks with Mr Rhodes, a New Zealander with links to his homeland’s Marlborough wine-producing area.
The two met together with Councillor Bryan Castle and town clerk Shelley Parker and have agreed a proposal for a Food and Wine Festival in Marlborough on May 10 and 11 next year provided there is agreement with the Commons User Group and residents in the area.
“We are looking at a number of venues in the town but Mr Rhodes’ ideal one would be the Common,” Mrs Parker told Marlborough News Online.
“His plan is so professional and well laid out with all the contingencies taken into account, even wet weather and lost child planning. I have talked to Cheltenham Borough Council about his annual festival there and everything looks very positive.
“A food and wine festival would be a big tourist attraction and be good for the local economy of Marlborough. But he is focussing on local people getting something out of it more than anything else.
“He wants people to be able to walk to the festival if they are able to, to involve local businesses in the events, perhaps chefs from residents in the surrounding area taking part. It will be a fantastic event for Marlborough if everything slots in.”
Councillor Pitts, who is standing down at the May 2 council elections, agrees.
“I was very impressed by his organisation and what it has achieved,” he said. “A festival next year is something I want to encourage – it is probably the last action I have taken during my time on the town council – and it will be a wonderful event for the town.”
Mr Rhodes told Marlborough News Online: “Once the problems have been sorted it will be all go. I am impressed with the town council, which is very proactive and positive in promoting events for the town and the local community – and that’s great to see.
“And the other side of staging an event like this is that it is very good for the economy of Marlborough. The Cheltenham Festival pulls in people from all over the country, but the greatest percentage who come are within their own county of Gloucestershire.
“And I imagine it will be much to same in Marlborough and the rest of Wiltshire.”
While it is early days, Mr Rhodes, who comes from Christchurch, is enthused by the idea of promoting wines from Marlborough, New Zealand.
“We do have the state bringing wines from Marlborough to Cheltenham this year,” he added. “I have actually just had a meeting with them about Marlborough and explained to them the idea of a festival in Marlborough, Wiltshire.
“Obviously May next year is a bit far away to organise something but we will be very hopeful in getting wines from New Zealand to represent the link between the two towns.”
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