Oadby food festival celebrates success after showing off borough’s rich culinary offer

Published: Tuesday, 3 September 2024

Oadby welcomed hundreds of visitors to its first food festival on Saturday, as people flocked to enjoy delicious offerings from local vendors and to enjoy an afternoon of entertainment.

Hungry attendees were able to indulge in a sell-out selection of international cuisine including Persian delicacies by Dream’s Café, flavourful vegan street food from Dhil’s Eats, a delicious taste of the Caribbean from Bangood, mouth-watering burgers from Smash Master and many more.

The Oadby & Wigston Borough Council (OWBC) event also saw a boost to local businesses with a huge increase in footfall along The Parade, and many businesses offering prizes, free samples and tasters to visitors.

Winners from adult and junior baking competitions on the day fought off tough competition to wow the judges, scooping prizes from S.I. Opticals, Life on Pointe, The Joy of Chocolate, Jenno’s Coffee House and Bru Oadby.

The festival was organised by OWBC in partnership with Visit Leicester.

Leader of OWBC, Councillor Samia Haq, said: "This festival was a real celebration of our local community, and I’m delighted to have seen such a high turnout and positive response.

“I would like to thank everyone for coming along and supporting our local businesses, as well as thank all the businesses who were involved in making the day so successful.

“We have such a rich and diverse culinary offer in our borough, and I am proud that we have been able to offer our local restaurants, cafés and vendors a platform to showcase it.”

The festival was part of Oadby & Wigston’s Taste The Place campaign. Led by Visit Leicester, Taste the Place is a Leicestershire-wide campaign to highlight the county’s rich culinary offerings.

This event was funded by UK Government.

Images: Visitors enjoying the day and Deputy Mayor of Oadby & Wigston Cllr Jasvir Chohan and Leader of OWBC, Cllr Samia Haq at the festival.