Hundreds flock to Darwen Food Festival as punters hail it the best one yet

In what was a far cry from last year's rain-soaked event, the food festival, which was held in Darwen’s Market Square, was blessed with sunshine and clear skies, and according to punters, was bigger and better than ever.

Event organiser, Samantha Taylor said: “We’ve got 27 food stalls, an entertainment marquee with five bars, and we’ve loads of new stalls as well, such as the noodle bar, the vegan stall and the English Chocolate Fountain Company.”

Stall holder of Our Paula’s, Eugene O’Regan, said: “This is our second time at Darwen food festival and there’s a lot more people here than last year.

“The people of Darwen are really good at supporting local events and businesses, so we’ll definitely be back in 2019.”

Ella Flynn, aged nine, came with her mum Rebecca Fielding, and was very impressed with the unicorn hot chocolate.

She said: “It’s very tasty and very chocolatey.”

Jackie Bond who was attending with her family said: “Events like this make people come together.

“The council are building on the space next to the market and once it’s finished it will be a fantastic open area and a real credit to Darwen and hopefully we can have more events like this to bring more people to the town.”

As well as food, people were treated to a great line-up of live music, and visitors were able to dance and drink underneath the entertainment marquee.

John Connelly, from Darwen, said: “It’s my first time here and it’s great.

"I had a look at the food and then I saw the beer, but I think I’ll be going to try one of the Indian curries later.”

Cllr Jane Oates said: “The festival has brought that community spirit back to Darwen; there’s a great vibe here today.”

The festival ran from 11am until 9pm and Miss Taylor said it was so successful that by 5pm all stalls had sold out of food.

She said: “The feedback has been really good; loads of families and groups of friends came along; it makes me really proud to be a Darrener.”