Published: July 7, 2024 | Updated: 7th July 2024
The first ever Grill Fest, which took place at Stewarts Garden Centre in Christchurch over the weekend of 29th – 30th June, has been described as a great weekend.
Stewarts Garden Centre Marketing Manager, Amy Stewart, said, “It was a brilliant weekend. We welcomed over 600 people to the special events area that we’d created for the weekend. It was a fantastic sight, with a sky full of colourful flags and bunting and thankfully the sun was shining too!
“Grill Fest was showcased as an opportunity to ‘level up your outdoor cooking skills with guidance from the BBQ and pizza oven professionals’ and visitors were offered non-stop delicious free nibbles and sizzling samples all weekend. From pancakes, to tacos there was all sorts of unexpected BBQ’d creations
“We had almost every BBQ brand there at the weekend, with people making the most of the exclusive deals on offer and leaving with a ‘to go’ butchers pack of meat ready to BBQ on their new kit and try out their skills that very evening.
“There was a wonderful atmosphere with visitors relishing local beers, ciders and cocktails and enjoying the opportunity to relax on the hay bales in front of the music stage, and take time to listen to the fabulous and entertaining music from Tim Rae, Hugh Budden, David Mein and showstopper, Millie Claxton.
Amy continued, “We had a mixologist from Conker Gin who created a bespoke cocktail menu for the event, and delicious coffees from Shutelake Coffee, giving everyone a welcome boost. There was free facepainting for the kids, resulting in a sea of beautiful butterflies and spidermen!”
“A whopping £834 was raised for our nominated charity of the year, Lewis-Manning Hospice Care, in the raffle which was run throughout the weekend. The raffle gave away a total of £1943 worth of fantastic prizes, including YETI coolers, drinkware and Weber BBQs, GOZNEY and pizza accessories.”
“We’d like to say sincere thanks to everyone who came along and of course all of our suppliers for making Grill Fest the superb event that it was. We do hope to be repeating in 2025!”
