CityLife

Wigan Food and Drink Festival moves to March

Wigan Foodfest - expect the pies to flit too

THE Manchester Food and Drink Festival, now in its 12th year, seems to be shedding some of its satellite festivals.

The Bolton festival has been and gone, adorned by the presence of the Hairy Bikers, who obviously get about a bit on their BMWs (they are also handing out the gongs at the Manchester awards gala dinner at the Palace Hotel on Monday, October 12).
 

Now news comes that the Wigan Food and Drink Festival will not take place this autumn to coincide with Big Brother Manchester but from March 4-14, 2010 instead.
 

It will run in conjunction with the town’s hugely popular Wigan CAMRA Beer Festival, adding a previously neglected drinks element. This year’s 22nd annual beer festival at Robin Park Sports Centre attracted more than 3,000 visitors.
 

Reducing carbon emissions

To mark the start of the new partnership Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust  has teamed up with CAMRA to promote their LocAle scheme to the borough’s hotels and restaurants.
 

Food festival organiser Keith Bergman told me: “We’ve drawn up a list of 30 breweries within a 20 mile range in a bid to encourage hotels and restaurants to support the local economy by buying locally and reducing carbon emissions from transport at the same time.''