Eat: Festival, the people behind popular food festivals in Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea, has been shortlisted for three awards at the National Outdoor Events Association Awards.
Beverley and Sarah Milner Simonds are finalists in three categories; the Event Organisers of the Year, PR Campaign of the Year and Small Event of the Year.
Eat: Weston and Eat: Burnham are popular events which take place twice a year in each town, attracting more than 100 local sellers and thousands of food-lovers.
The team is riding high at the moment after scooping the top award at the Somerset Life Food & Drink Awards on October 19 when the pair were named the 2017 Food Heroes.
Weston MP John Penrose said: “A few years ago, a list of what to eat in Weston would have been pretty short, with a heavy focus on fish, chips and ice cream. There is nothing wrong with any of those three, of course, but the list would be a whole lot longer now.
“Eat: Weston and other food festivals have made it their mission to give local producers a platform to showcase a huge range of brilliant food made right on our doorstep.
“Awareness is growing fast, so this nomination is thoroughly well-deserved.”
North Somerset councillor Felicity Baker, executive member for tourism and leisure, said: “We were delighted to work with Beverley and Sarah to bring Eat: Weston back to the town.
“Thanks to the support and determination of everyone involved, the event was created in record time.
“It drew large crowds to the town centre with the High Street and refurbished Italian Gardens proving to be the ideal location for such an event.”
Sara Pacey, the council’s events and concessions manager who worked closely with Beverley and Sarah said it was a ‘pleasure’ working alongside the food festival team
She added: “They have an highly-organised and professional approach which ensured that they were easy to work with in all the stages of planning, execution and debrief of what was a hugely successful event.”
The awards will be presented by MP James Heappey on Wednesday.
Eat: Weston will be back in the town’s Italian Gardens and High Street on April 7 and then again on September 22 with a variety of Somerset sellers and producers.