Every summer, tens of thousands of people descend on Weymouth to feast their senses at what must surely be one of the UK's premier celebrations of seafood.
Now in its fourth year, the Dorset Seafood Festival is an extravaganza of everything maritime and a distinctive culinary experience. Of the more than 70 stalls at this year's event, the vast majority was selling food, and on most of them it was being cooked to order.
Oysters, crab cakes, lobster, mackerel, paella, shrimp, sea bass and plaice were just some of the fresh delights available. This was complemented by local organic cheese, cider, hand made chocolate, beer and champagne.
A great feature of the Dorset Seafood Festival is the promotion of local businesses. These include Chococo, the Swanage-based chocolate makers whose products are winning shelf space on leading London stores. Award-winning Hive Beach Cafe was selling incredible chorizo and watercress in ciabatta while promoting their stunning location on the beach at nearby Burton Bradstock.
Edeli, a Dorset-based importer of fine Spanish olive oils, allowed visitors to taste samples with flavours including ginger, coffee, chilli, orange and lemon. Ringwood Brewery provided beer from the heart of the New Forest, which isn't quite in Dorset, but is still local.
Among the many other local suppliers were those offering products from further afield, such as Pommery Champagne, Whitby Seafoods from Yorkshire, and Wines of Chile.
Other local producers and businesses included the Crab House Cafe, Furleigh Estate Wine, Lanes Restaurant, Shelley's Bakery and Moonfleet Manor Hotel and Restaurant.
If you're a Dorset business looking to promote your wares to the public, perhaps you should consider getting involved in the Dorset Seafood Festival in 2012. It is now a landmark event on many calendars and next summer promises to be even more special, because the entire world will be looking in this direction as Weymouth and Portland stand host to the sailing events of the 2012 Olympic Games.
