A HAMPSHIRE market town is preparing to welcome back its annual festival which celebrates the beginning of the watercress season.
The Alresford Watercress Festival will be back on Sunday, May 21, with the town’s streets filling up with stalls and more than 15,000 visitors.
The event traditionally takes place on the third Sunday of May as a celebration of the national watercress season beginning, with Alresford being pegged as the 'capital of watercress'.
For the 19th edition of the event, the organisers have invited famous British chef Mark Hix MBE, who runs the Oyster and Fish House in Lyme Regis.
READ MORE: More than 10,000 people at Watercress Festival in Alresford following three-year absence
Mr Hix said: “I love watercress, its peppery kick is great to add to pretty much any recipe and it’s so good for you too. There’s nothing better than freshly harvested British watercress and I can’t wait to show festival goers what can be done with it.
“I’m also judging the watercress food awards, where I will get a chance to see how some of Hampshire’s best artisanal producers are using watercress in their products, and choose the most innovative.”
The festival promises more than 140 stalls, offering an array of drinks, food, and wares from various crafts. Guest include chefs, nutritionists and health experts who are set to share the benefits of the Hampshire and Dorset-originated superfood.
Visitors will also be able to ride the historical steam railway, The Watercress Line, which supplied fresh watercress to London in Victorian times.
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One of the biggest attractions proves to be the World Watercress Eating Championships, where contestants attempt to eat 80g of watercress as quick as they can. Alresford resident Glenn Walsh has taken the top spot for 14 years in a row.
Besides parking charges, the festival is free to attend, with complementary bags of watercress and samples of watercress smoothies or pesto available.
This year, visitors are being to donate to the children’s cancer charity Abby’s Heroes which supports families and children under the care of the Piam Brown and Teenagers and Young Adults wards at Southampton General Hospital.
For more go to watercressfestival.org.
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