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The Asparagus Festival 2007
Between Sunday, 27 th May and Sunday, 3 rd June, 2007 The Fleece Inn at Bretforton is proud to host - for the second year running – in association with the British Asparagus Association and Wychavon District Council, The Vale of Evesham Annual Asparagus Festival in celebration of this most auspicious and much prized Vale vegetable (view their website: http://www.british-asparagus.co.uk/asparagus_festival.php). The Festival Week commences on Sunday evening in The Fleece courtyard with an Asparagus Auction at 7pm where bids are likely to be flying Aspara-sky high if last year's events are anything to gauge this year's upon! Bank Holiday Monday offers Festival Fun in the shape of many delights from a gathering of vintage tractors in our orchard to a Farmers' Market selling local produce on the village cross, around which Bretforton's Cotwold cottages cluster with St Leonard's church and The Fleece Inn gazing at each other from their opposing corners - these beautiful and ancient buildings adding to and underlining a picturesque and tranquil English scene. There will be a Craft Fayre to browse around where you can see rustic crafters at work including our local thatcher at work, buy local honey and watch the traditional art of charcoal burning. We will have Morrismen dancing and a fairground organ and penny arcade to play. Tutored asparagus tasting will be taking place and Rachel Green, the ‘Flying Chef' , will be hosting cookery demonstrations whilst asparagus connoisseur, Chris Sheehan, reads from his new book – “A Passion For Asparagus” which will be launched at the Festival at a discounted price! Henry Sandon , from the Antiques Roadshow , and his wife, Barbara, will also be our guests and available for you to chat to ... There will also be various childrens' activities along with a few surprises along the way to make it a family summers' day to remember. During the week we will have some yet to be confirmed Aspar-events so keep an eye on our website and local press for details. The Festival Finale takes place on the Fleece Courtyard on Sunday, 3 rd June at 7pm , being our own St Leonard 's Church auction – your last chance to grab a bundle of this veritable Vale speciality in style. This auction will be preceded by a church service on The Cross - in front of both The Fleece and the village church – when Bretforton Silver Band will accompany the special Sunday evening Asparagus Service. We would call it idyllic but then we are a little biased; so come and join us and draw your own Aspara-conclusion whilst our feast of an Asparagus Festival draws closer to it's own ... Just to leave you a little wiser, some Aspara-facts you may not know ... • Asparagus is a member of the lily family along with garlic, bluebells and hostas • Under ideal conditions an asparagus spear can grow 10in (25cm) in 24 hours • Asparagus and rhubarb are among the few vegetables that do not have to be raised from seed. A well-tended asparagus plant may produce for 15 years without being re-planted • Wild asparagus was loved by the Ancient Greeks but the Romans first cultivated it • The Emperor Augustus coined the phrase velocius quam asparagi conquantur , meaning to do something “faster than you can cook asparagus” • Free of fat and cholesterol, dried asparagus is prized as an aphrodisiac by practitioners of the Persian Unani and Indian Ayurvedic medicines Further Information |
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