A Beautiful Day at the Dorset Food & Arts Festival

This past Saturday, the Dorset Food & Arts Festival was alive with energy, creativity, and community spirit—and we were thrilled to be a part of it! With an estimated 2,000 visitors enjoying the vibrant mix of food, music, art, and craft, the festival was a resounding success, and the LovePoundbury stand was part of that buzz.

Our stand was a hive of activity as visitors stopped by to learn about the Community Association of Poundbury and to look at our brand-new Poundbury Good Things merchandise. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many people praising the designs and the initiative itself. We’re delighted to share that we made a fantastic start with sales, and even took pre-orders for our upcoming full-colour tote bags and tea towels featuring the new Spirit the Hare logo.

Profits from the sales will support Pavilion in the Park to help fund their youth and other community programmes.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers who worked on the stand—Sue and Jerry Cooke, and Tim and Antonia Wilmot— and to those who designed and developed the new merchandise—Mary O'Flaherty, Emma Taylor, Claire Lunnen-Kay, and Sue again. And a special thanks to Juanita Prince at Minuteman Press, Jenny and Andy Welham at The Rhubarb Candle Company, and Megan Howarth who were instrumental in delivering high quality products. Thank you also to all who visited our stand, shared their enthusiasm, and supported our work. Your encouragement means the world to us, and we can’t wait to build on this success.

Looking ahead, we’re already planning the next steps:

·        Community Feedback: We’ll be running a social media campaign soon to ask for your input on the colour of Spirit the Hare. Keep an eye on our channels and have your say!

·        Members' Meeting Opportunity: We aim to have many of our new products for sale at the upcoming inaugural members' meeting on September 18th at Damers Hall. Registration for this meeting will open soon!

·        Christmas Preparations: With the festive season just around the corner, we’re gearing up for even more events and opportunities to share Poundbury Good Things with the community.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to the festival organisers Dorset Food & Drink for creating such a magical event. The camaraderie and community spirit were truly inspiring, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s festival!

Here’s to another year full of connection, creativity, and community.

For information on other upcoming events in our community, please visit: https://www.lovepoundbury.org/whats-on and Discover Dorchester.