Last weekend, Stone’s Westbridge Park was transformed into a foodie haven packed with fun for the whole family.
The 20th annual Stone Food & Drink Festival opened its gates at noon on Friday 9th May with glorious weather welcoming in excess of 7,000 visitors over the three days of the event. With a new team at the helm, this anniversary year saw a host of new additions and changes to layout that helped attract the bumper crowd.
Headlining the Culinary Showcase stage each day was a different star of the Great British Bake Off – with 2024 contestant Sumayah Kazi acing her first ever public appearance on Friday; 2023 winner Matty Edgell charming the crowds on Saturday and on Sunday Nelly Ghaffar proving just as much of a fan favourite off-screen as she was on. They were joined on the programme by some of Staffordshire’s most talented chefs who showcased their skills to capacity crowds.
Another new addition this year was the Competition Stage – offering punters the chance to get hands-on with a number of fun, interactive challenges. The festival team joined forces with Stone Traders’ Group to put on an entertaining range of activities – from biscuit dunking and CPR challenges to hanging basket design, cake decorating, coffee art, beer identification, building structures with spaghetti and marshmallows and creating show-stopping ‘ice cream’ sundaes for the kids. It also played host to the grand finale of the first annual Great Stone Bake Off on Sunday, where GBBO’s Nelly Ghaffar judged entries in the daily heat before choosing the overall Star Baker, Dawn Hughes, for her amazing strawberry sponge!
Live music once again proved a big part of the festivities – with live acts including The Formula, House Jammerz, Jonny Allen, The Unlawful Men, Sonic Boom, Kenyon Walker, Guitar Monkey and The Voice Box Music performing throughout the weekend alongside talented youngsters from Stone’s Rooftop Studios. Meanwhile, a new Chill Out tent with Granville’s resident DJs and special guests spinning the decks provided an additional musical dimension to the event.
A bigger family zone was also a new addition this year – with daily kids’ discos, Panic Family Circus returning with their popular, free Big Top shows and circus skills workshops; free kids’ cookery classes on Saturday and Sunday, friendly animals to meet, a bigger funfair and lots more keeping young visitors entertained.
But it wouldn’t be a food festival without a good helping of food & drink – and both featured in abundance, with gourmet treats to be found in the Gourmet Shopping Village and over 40 Street Food Vendors and pop-up bars ensuring everyone was well fed and watered.
Festival director, Ed Stant says:
“Wow. What a weekend! Our aim this year was to freshen things up with a new layout and programme to attract both regular visitors and a new generation of young families to the event – and it couldn’t have gone better!
“The feedback has been amazing from vendors and visitors alike, and there was an amazing atmosphere on site – thanks in part to the brilliant weather we enjoyed! We attracted a bumper crowd, and we are absolutely buzzing, with lots of ideas to put into practice for next year’s event.
“It was fantastic to have so many local businesses involved on site this year; both running challenges on the Competition Stage and having stalls in the Home & Garden Marquee, and next year we want to work even more closely with the High Street to have a full programme of events in the week running up to the big weekend.
“We’d like to say a huge thank you to all the visitors who joined us to make this such a great event; to all the traders, suppliers and sponsors who helped make it happen and especially to our amazing team of volunteers without whom the show simply couldn’t go on!”
The team behind the event is already busy planning the 2026 festival, which again will run on Westbridge Park in early May.
For more details on the 2025 programme, head to www.stonefooddrink.org.uk – if you are interested in your business becoming a sponsor at the event email [email protected] – if you’d like to enquire about a trade stand please email [email protected]
