The Great British Cheese Festival

The Great British Cheese Festival, is a festival held in Wales (previously held in the South or West of England) on the last weekend of every September.

History

The first annual event was held in 2000[1] in Oxfordshire, and was founded by Juliet Harbutt.[2] Each year it is preceded by the British Cheese Awards, a ceremony which Harbutt created in 1994,[3] judged by food experts and farmers, in which the best cheeses are awarded bronze, silver and gold medals.

All cheeses are tasted blind, and the winners can then display their awards during the public-attended festival. There are usually a variety of events at the festival such as seminars, masterclasses, and cheesemaking demonstrations.[4]

The event moved to Cheltenham in Gloucestershire in 2005.[5] In 2006 the Sunday of the weekend was cancelled at great cost after the venue experienced flooding, and the decision was made to return to Oxfordshire in 2007.[6]

Early in 2008 the festival was sold to Cardiff Council; subsequently the event has been held in the grounds of Cardiff Castle in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.[7]

The 2012 Great British Cheese Festival was held at Cardiff Castle on Saturday, September 22, and Sunday, September 23.

In 2015, Harbutt returned to her native New Zealand.[8]

References
  1. "Ludlow Food Festival – the original food festival". Ludlow Food Festival.
  2. Harbutt, Juliet (2009). World Cheese Book. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1405336819.
  3. "Great British Cheese Festival brings the finest in fromage". Metro. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. "Cardiff and the Great British Cheese Festival". 12 November 2010.
  5. "BBC – Gloucestershire Festivals – The Cheese Olympics come to Cheltenham". www.bbc.co.uk.
  6. "Great British Cheese Festival 2007". dine-online.co.uk. 17 September 2007.
  7. Tudor, Nicola (28 September 2010). "Review: Great British Cheese Festival – taste your cheese at a price". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  8. "Profile: Juliet Harbutt - Farewell to the cheese lady". Oxford Mail. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2023.

See also

Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.