HYNDBURN MP Graham Jones has praised the Accrington Food & Drink Festival after positive feedback from businesses.

With over 14,000 attendees, the festival, held this year on June 3, was widely considered a great success by those who turned up to browse the wide array of stalls and activities available.

And now, after survey's carried out by event organisers Scott Dawson Advertising, it can be revealed that traders were equally pleased on the day, with 84% of stalls rating the event as ‘good' or ‘excellent' and 97% saying that they would definitely be interested booking a stall for next year's event.

Graham Jones, MP for Hyndburn, who was in attendance on the day, said: "It was a wonderful event which everyone enjoyed. It put Accrington and Hyndburn on the map. It is extremely pleasing to see the positive feedback from traders to the event. I think everyone who attended is looking forward to the event next year."

Comments on the day from traders were extremely positive with some saying that the Accrington Food & Drink Festival had generated more money for them than events in other larger cities in the UK and many others commenting positively on the organisation and atmosphere.

As well as the 70 plus stalls at the festival, there was also other wonderful events going on all around the town, with celebrity chef Richard Fox doing live demonstrations, with help from students from Accrington & Rossendale College, a WW2 re-enactment to commemorate D-Day and the ‘Oops Upside Your Head' unofficial record attempt in the grounds of St James' Church.

Murray Dawson, Managing Director of Scott Dawson Advertising, the event organisers, said: "We are very proud of the positive response we have received from traders who had stalls on the day. When we started organising this event our intention was to improve the experience for the public and the traders alike and we have seen a ten-fold increase in attendance over the last three years - which is incredible. We look forward to seeing even more people and stallholders in 2018 if the council permit us to."

Along with Accrington & Rossendale College the other main sponsor for the event was local firm Duckworths Estate Agents who ran the ‘Hook-a-Duck' stall to raise money for cancer research.

Click on the link to watch a wonderful video of the 2017 Accrington Food & Drink Festival - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dtaSG9GPSY

For more information on the Accrington Food & Drink Festival visit www.accringtonfoodfestival.co.uk