Tasty treat in store as St Annes Gin and Food Festival returns

April will see the return of the St Annes Gin and Food Festival, last staged in 2018 and set to make its comeback to The Square the weekend before Easter, April 9 and 10.

Like the Christmas Market, which made a highly-successful debut in Ashton Gardens last month, attracting 14,000 people, it will be organised, with support from Fylde and St Annes Town Councils, by the St Annes Enterprise Partnership (STEP), whose chairman, Veli Kirk, is relishing both events.

“The plan is to make the Gin and Food Festival even bigger and better than before,” he said. “There will be two sessions of gin tasting on the Saturday, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening, held in a marquee in the car park, with the adjoining carpark and square featuring pop up food and drink stalls.

The 2022 dates for the Christmas Market are December 8 to 11.

“We hope to expand that event along Garden Street to create a festive funnel into the Square,” added Veli. “There’s much more time available to plan this year, so we hope to work with local businesses to tie-in with their late night opening, encouraging even more footfall into the town.”

Fylde Council leader Coun Karen Buckley said: “The feedback on the Christmas market was overwhelmingly positive from businesses and residents and I’m delighted that this has encouraged STEP to be ambitious with their plans, not only to run a repeat of that but to add in the Gin and Food Festival in April.

“Events such as these bring the town alive, attract newcomers, and showcase what’s on offer. I have no doubt the stalls will be booked up fast and am pleased to hear that local businesses will be prioritised. I wish the organisers well and look forward to working with STEP in 2022.”

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