A POPULAR food festival is headed to various towns in Mendip this summer.

The eat:Festivals team will be bringing their 'little' eat: Festival to Street, Glastonbury, Wells and Shepton Mallet during July and August.

Mendip District Council's (MDC) partnership with eat:Festivals means around 20 of Somerset's finest local producers will be headed to these towns.

There will be music and street entertainers at these events as well.

Cllr Simon Carswell, portfolio holder for economic development at MDC, said: “This is a new partnership for us at the council and we are convinced they will provide a welcome boost to our high streets, enhancing our already-popular Mendip Markets offer, and attracting even more local people and visitors to our towns and city.

“The festivals will be held in the open air and will have measures in place to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission. So everyone can feel confident when they shop.”

The events set to take place include:

  • Street, High Street on July 11
  • Glastonbury, St. Dunstan’s car park on July 18
  • Wells, Cathedral Green on July 25
  • Shepton Mallet, Market Place on August 8

The eat:Festivals were founded by Bev and Sarah Milner Simonds in 2012, in Burnham-on-Sea.

There are now more than 20 events in Somerset, Devon, South Gloucestershire and Dorset.

Bev added: “We are delighted to be working in Mendip this summer and helping the local businesses welcome back shoppers and visitors.

"The small producers we work with, and many high street businesses, have had a horrid 18 months.

"Getting back to face to face, or mask to visor trading, is such a welcome step on the roadmap to economic recovery and we are proud to play a part in this.

“The four events in Mendip are a smaller scale than our other events - but you can still expect to find farmers’ markets favourites alongside top class street food, music and entertainers.

“We have worked hard to adapt our larger events to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19 and provide a safe, welcoming offer in town and city centres across the South West and we will be bringing the same high standards to these ‘Little Eat’ events in Mendip too.”

The events have been commissioned by MDC, working with eat:Festivals and with monies from the European Regional Development Fund.