The next couple of summer weekends will be full of outdoor fun in the pretty Exmoor town of Dulverton, the Southern Gateway to Exmoor.
On Sunday 2 July ten gorgeous gardens will be opened by Dulverton residents from 10am to 4.30pm for the ‘Secret Gardens of Dulverton’. This is a rare opportunity to visit some of the delightful gardens that are normally hidden away. The gardens are of all shapes, sizes and stages of development, and are all located within walking distance of the centre of the town, making it easy to visit all of them during the day. Refreshments will be served at Dulverton Town Hall throughout the day. See the website for ticket information. Dogs are welcome in most of the gardens.
Then on Saturday 8 July the Dulverton Artisan Food, Drink & Crafts Festival returns to Dulverton’s picturesque Exmoor Lawns beside the River Barle in the heart of the town. Free to attend from 10am to 4.30pm this excellent event celebrates the many artisan producers located across Exmoor, the Quantocks and Devon. The perfect opportunity to shop truly local and support many local small independent businesses.
You’ll discover over 35 stalls from local producers – a selection of gifts, leather goods, textiles, ceramics, soaps, homeware and of course home-produced meat, beer, cider, bread, spirits, cocktails, cakes, preserves and more. Treat yourself to a bunch of cottage garden-inspired bee-friendly flowers from the fabulous Jessica’s Gardens of Cullompton (pictured above)!
Go to the Visit Dulverton website to discover more about all of the town’s forthcoming events https://visitdulverton.com/events/ Supported by Dulverton Town Council.
The festival was the brain child of Dulverton’s Town Council Chair, Christine Dubery, who had gathered together a selection of some of the best local artisan producers. She said “We wanted to create a summer event to celebrate the extraordinary variety of quality local small independent craftspeople and producers that are often difficult to discover in a rural community. To have them all in one place in Dulverton was ideal and gave visitors on the day the chance to explore the town and its shops and eateries too.”
With free admission, festival goers enjoyed stalls selling home-produced meat, beer, cider, spirits, cakes, puddings, jams and pickles. Gifted craftspeople had stalls of clothing, homeware, leather goods, bags, gifts, pet products and more. Exmoor was fully represented with Exmoor Fudge, Exmoor Tea, the Exmoor Pizza Pod and who could resist a delicious Italian sausage roll from Exmoor Feasting or a beautifully blended Pina Colada from Exmoor Distillery? Live music kept feet tapping throughout the day.
Families made much of the sunshine by paddling in the River Barle under the iconic medieval bridge whilst devouring ploughman’s lunches from Selworthy Pantry and ice creams from Scrumdiddly Gelato. Local business YASU Therapies were offering reiki massage experience sessions in the shade beside the river.
It was great to see members of Dulverton’s Fire Brigade chatting to visitors outside the Fire Station opposite the festival, encouraging new volunteers to join their incredible team – with the occasional loud toot from the red fire engine!
