Sunshine Chocolate Festival
19th April 2011
Record numbers of chocoholics flocked to Ramsbottom for the town's third annual chocolate festival.Visitors travelled from across the North West and beyond to take part in the celebration, which this year was extended to two days and was bathed in glorious sunshine.
The festival is organised by the Ramsbottom Business Group and Bury Council's town centres and tourism teams, who were delighted with the success of the event.
A vast array of chocolate products and foodie treats awaited visitors at the Bridge Street Chocolate Market, and Square Street was transformed into an alfresco dining area.
Some people came to Ramsbottom via special Chocolate Express steam trains on the East Lancashire Railway, and were greeted by festival mascot Charlie Chick with free chocolate treats.
For serious connoisseurs, there was a programme of demos and talks at the "Demo pod" on Market Place on a range of chocolate themes including how to taste chocolate and create chocolate treats at home. Taking centre stage was UK Chocolate Master John Costello who amazed the crowds with his chocolate sculptures and creations.
Youngsters were entertained with craft activities at the Civic Hall with Charlie Chick, Mr Big the stiltwalker, facepainters, and Chocolate Workshops run by Fair Trade producer Divine, providing "hands on" chocolate experience.
Gina Ball, chair of Ramsbottom Business Group, said: "We had an amazing weekend in Ramsbottom with a fantastic atmosphere. This year's festival was a big success, providing a great family day out and raising the profile of the town. For a lot of the visitors this was their first visit to Ramsbottom. We hope to continue to bring forward great events throughout the year with support from the business group and the council."
Winners of the Golden Egg trail competition took home a Golden Egg from Slattery's chocolatiers. Lydia Argenio, from Greenmount Primary School, was the winner of the colouring competition and received a month's supply of Dubble bars courtesy of Divine Chocolate.
The Giant Easter Egg competition attracted 20 entries from local primary schools and nurseries, with an exceptionally high standard of "egg creations" providing a fantastic display. The winner was St Mary's Primary School, Radcliffe with "Eggstra Terrestrial Easter", and the runner-up was St Andrew's Primary School, Ramsbottom with "Gnomeo and Juliet".
A new event this year was the Golden Ticket competition which saw the creation of the unique "Popping Chocolate Bubble Wrap" Festival Bar.
Adding to the festival atmosphere was musical entertainment from local acts Beth Warriner, The Hoohaas, Leap to Your Feet, Rammy Folk and The Dodgers.
Paul Morris of Ramsbottom Business Group and the Chocolate Café said: "I am incredibly proud of what the partnership has achieved and that we have once again shown that our small town can host a world class event. Ramsbottom truly is the northern capital of chocolate in the UK. A huge thanks to everybody who has helped to make this year's festival possible, and to the thousands of visitors who came
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