Falmouth Oyster Festival Equals Record Number of Visitors

Students studying Media at University College Falmouth filmed the cookery demonstrations throughout the festival. The festival gives students experience of filming at a live event, and in turn, the students work enables thousands of visitors in the main marquee to view the cookery action at close quarters on a large screen. A live feed of the Working Boat Race in the inner harbour on Sunday morning was a new filming project this year- bringing the exciting and close fought sailing to the heart of the festival.

"The organisers would like to thank University College Falmouth for generously providing specialist broadcast quality equipment, professional expertise and student camera operatives that enabled more people than ever to view the cookery demonstrations, the oyster shucking competition and the working boat race from the inner harbour. Particular thanks are due to the College's Head of Media Centre, Alan Barnes, who directed operations, and his team of media students who worked tirelessly to film the four-day event" said Mike Rangecroft of Fal Festivals Ltd, joint organisers of the festival with Carrick District Council.

TV chef Sophie Grigson opened the festival with a cookery demonstration of dishes including oyster loaves, baked oysters with apples and oyster Po'boy sandwiches and finished off with two exotic Italian cake recipes which was much appreciated by the audience. All chefs used the very best of locally-sourced seasonal ingredients and fish and seafood from around the Cornish coast.

As well as coverage of the Opening Ceremony by both BBC and ITV local television stations, the festival attracted two further television companies filming the event to be included in the BBC's series ‘Three Men in a Boat' next year, and for Alan Titchmarsh's Four Seasons series to be aired early in 2009.

Rick Stein paid a visit to the festival marquee after having been the first celebrity chef to open the festival ten years ago - he was impressed with how the festival had developed and the quality and range Cornish produce available at the event.

A pilot project with Marlborough School was introduced to the festival this year, with local chefs Arty Williams from the Cove and Sanjay Kumar from the Greenbank Hotel, cooking in the school's kitchen for children, parents and cooks in the school's Health Eating Group. Children watched oysters, scallops and mussels being prepared, and were then more than willing to taste the many different dishes cooked using the seafood ingredients - many for the first time. Children from Marlborough School also assisted Arty with two cookery demonstrations at the festival, stealing the limelight in the festival kitchen!

All schools in Falmouth took part in the Grand Oyster Parade which was a mass of colour and sound, with children carrying Tall Ships ‘masts' with their school names spelled out in nautical flags and led by the Falmouth School Samba Band. Falmouth School Jazz Orchestra also played on The Moor while the parade assembled and made its way through the town centre to Events Square.

"The festival organisers were very pleased with the whole event, but were particularly pleased with the terrific support from the local community. The event has huge local support and now receives regular from visitors from all over the country" commented Peter Mason, of Fal Festivals Ltd.'"The festival has retained its original appeal, celebrating local distinctiveness and the start of the oyster dredging season, it reflects the great character of Falmouth and will continue to be a strong feature in the events calendar."

The festival would not happen without the oyster fishermen who dredge for the native oysters in the River Fal and its tributaries. Credit for the success of the festival goes to the hard work of all the organisers, festival partners, and this year the volunteers from Cornwall Centre for Volunteers and students studying Travel and Tourism at Cornwall College.

Dates for the 2009 festival are 15^th to 18^th October - make a note in your diary!

Tweet