A wet weekend meant that famous rugby ground The Rec was sodden, but it didn’t stop spirited thousands visiting the UK’s first ever coffee festival. Inside the main marquee, exhibitors including big coffee names such as Martin Carwardine & Co, Illycaffé, Whittard of Chelsea, Lavazza, Cafe Kimbo and Taylors of Harrogate, alonside charities such as CoffeeKids.com.
The festival was designed to be a smooth blend of entertainment and commerce. There were tastings of coffees sourced from 13 countries worldwide, with barista demonstrations and big name experts such as celebrity chef Martin Blunos, and Mike Riley, head coffee buyer at Taylors of Harrogate.
In addition, there was samba dancing, salsa lessons, acoustic sets, book signings from authors and colouring competitions, and international rugby stars joined a touch rugby tournament, tying in with the festival’s pledge of giving a share of the profits to the Bath Rugby Community Foundation.
Festival organiser Linda Donaldson from Geometry PR said: “We knew that a coffee festival would be popular in Bath and are delighted that so many people came to enjoy the event and to support us. It was great to see our demonstration tent packed out over the whole weekend, and people having great conversations with big coffee brands and local, independent companies. Clearly, there’s an appetite for coffee fans to find out more about what’s arguably the nation’s most popular drink.
“The support of the industry was absolutely crucial in putting the festival on and the suppliers that attended should be commended for their enthusiasm at the event. We’ve had very good feedback from exhibitors and sponsors with a significant number rebooking for next year. Even while we were at the festival, our Blackberries were exploding with messages of support from the public and from those in the trade. Other countries have very large and successful coffee festivals and we’re looking forward to making the event an annual one and to grow it as they have done in countries such as Australia and New Zealand.”
Did you attend the event? What did you think? Please leave a comment below.
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