By KLTV Newsdesk
Kirklees Council announced today they are working with Huddersfield Live to present a ‘virtual’ Huddersfield Food & Drink Festival this summer.
The festival which usually takes place in St George’s Square has been moved online this year to help control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, organisers said they are still keen to celebrate the array of amazing food and drinks businesses that Kirklees has to offer.
Huddersfield Live, the organisers of the festival, and the council are bringing four days of food and drink-related activity to people’s screens from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 August 2020.
Whilst the festival is maintaining its name it is taking the opportunity to celebrate food and drink from across the district in a new way this year.
Huddersfield Live are now looking for the best independent food and drink businesses from across Kirklees to get involved by showcasing their wares and making goods available to buy or order online over the weekend.
The aim is to have businesses make special offers or menus during the weekend of the festival.
The organisers are also looking for Kirklees musicians and bands who want to submit content as part of the festival.
The festival will be hosted on the Huddersfield Food & Drink Festival website and social media platforms and will include a range of online activities including a directory of participating businesses with links to their websites/Facebook pages so that people can order or buy their produce.
A village marketplace where independent businesses such as breweries, food makers, gin distillers, bakers, cheesemakers can showcase their products for visitors to buy direct from them.
There will also be musical and creative performances from local artists, interviews with restaurateurs, chefs, business owners, and cooking demonstrations.
Cllr Rob Walker Cabinet Member for Culture explained the council’s decision to support the festival this year.
He said: “We’re supporting the festival this year to help our fantastic local restaurants, cafes bars and food businesses to recover from the impact of lockdown.
“We know that the Huddersfield Food and Drink Festival is much loved by people from Kirklees and further afield, I hope that they will all visit the virtual festival and maybe discover something or somewhere new.
Cllr Walker urged businesses to get involved in the festival
He added: “It’s completely free and a great way to drum up some new business.”
This year’s food and drink festival will the 20th in its history and is often considered the largest event of its kind in the UK.
This will be the first time the festival does not take place in St George’s Square.
Sam Watt, Director of Huddersfield Live said: “Although we are saddened that due to the current situation we can’t bring our ‘Live’ event to Huddersfield, we’re really excited about delivering this new concept.
“Working with Kirklees Council to help the recovery and bring positivity back to the area is so important to us.
Mr Watt emphasised that they want lots of local independent businesses to join the festival, to showcase and to help increase awareness of and economic stability for the community.
He also made mention of the opportunities for talented local performers and musicians to take part in the festivities.
He said: “I know that there are also many talented people in Kirklees who could be part of the entertainment programme and children’s section, this is a great opportunity to record content to promote themselves.
“If you think you can support us we’d love to hear from you, as we say at Huddersfield Live it’s all about creating better events together.”