Surrey Homes | SH27 | January 2017 | Health & Beauty supplement inside
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspirational Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspirational Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
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Midwinter Magic<br />
Julie Simpson reflects on a festive-filled three days at<br />
Wealden Times Midwinter Fair 2016<br />
Photographs: David Merewether<br />
We’ve had so many lovely<br />
comments about this year’s<br />
Midwinter Fair but one<br />
that particularly resonated was from<br />
stand-holder and furniture designer<br />
Steve Armitage from Huutt who said<br />
“we feel that we’re now part of a very<br />
vibrant and growing community of<br />
independent, creative retailers – proud<br />
to serve our region” and I’d like to<br />
add to that that their region is very,<br />
very proud of them. All of them.<br />
The talent, energy, creativity and<br />
enthusiasm of the 250 retailers who<br />
attended this year’s Wealden Times<br />
Midwinter Fair in November was<br />
amazing. The high entry standards for<br />
exhibitors set by the WT Fairs team<br />
really shone through. Visitors were<br />
delighted by the quality and variety<br />
that was on offer with stands selling<br />
everything from beautiful clothes and<br />
accessories to home and garden ware,<br />
gifts and fabulous food and drink. And<br />
they all left laden down with goodies.<br />
Despite the fact that Christmas was on<br />
the horizon, chats on the door with<br />
visitors leaving the fair suggested that as<br />
many purchases were made for personal<br />
consumption as were bought as gifts!<br />
Food is always a big part of any<br />
good event, as is a great cup of coffee<br />
or a glass of fizz. Coffee Real, Hush<br />
Heath Winery and Cocolicious made<br />
sure no one went thirsty at the fair<br />
while a fleet of street food vehicles fed<br />
us all with a delicious range of dishes.<br />
Every taste bud was catered for with<br />
Italian, Indonesian, gluten free, healthy<br />
salads and a traditional afternoon<br />
tearoom being just a few of the<br />
offerings available to hungry shoppers.<br />
The Hop Farm was a new venue<br />
for us this year and it proved a<br />
great success, providing masses and<br />
masses of good parking and easy<br />
access for visitors coming from Kent,<br />
Sussex, <strong>Surrey</strong> and further afield.<br />
We’d like to thank our friends<br />
and sponsors, estate agents Harpers<br />
& Hurlingham, for their continued<br />
support of our fairs and their unfailing<br />
good humour and generosity in<br />
raising funds for charity. Their raffle<br />
at this year’s Midwinter Fair raised<br />
£1,565.00 for Cancer Research.<br />
Here at Wealden Times, we’re now<br />
looking forward to our Midsummer<br />
Fair at Hole Park on 8, 9 & 10 June.<br />
The theme for the festival which<br />
accompanies the summer event will<br />
be wellbeing and gardening and<br />
we’ll be releasing the programme<br />
of speakers very soon. So, save<br />
the dates and we look forward<br />
to seeing you all in June.