Bands and chefs entertain at Wokingham Festival in Elms Field

Bands and chefs entertained the crowds with music from all genres from soul to rock and rap. The chefs cooked up a storm, showing people everything from cocktail mixing to a masterclass on salmon.

This year’s festival introduced a new stage, which helped bring the festival to life.

Stan Hetherington organised the festival and said the event was ‘a cracking weekend’.

He said: “It went incredibly well. All the exhibitors and the musicians were brilliant. We had an amazing time and the weather wasn’t as bad as the forecasters were suggesting.

“The Flicks, at the end of the show were magnificent. It was the first time we had no-one sat in the beer tent at the end of the festival. That’s something that will go down in the festival’s history.

“Normanton Street were fantastic too. Normally I’m not a great fan of rap but it was a softer rap. Some of the older bands, The Blocks and Stanley Dee, appeal to people in their 40s, 50s and 60s so it’s nice to give the younger people something in their style.”

He said numbers were slightly down on last year but that was caused by this year’s poor weather compared to 2014’s balmy sunshine. The event was near capacity, but there was room for people to move around the field.

The line-up of musicians across the three days also included Young Fossl (corr), who playeding a range of covers including The White Stripes and Dan Penn, and the East Berkshire Operatic Society performing pieces from forthcoming shows and much more.

The demonstration tent boasted seating for nearly 100 guests and TV screens to ensure guests could see everything see what was going on.

Over Saturday and Sunday guests were given an introduction into lamb butchery by Christian Martin from Stefan’s Butchers in the town, a guide to wine tasting by Laithwaites in Binfield and an interactive session to get children excited about eating their vegetables, led by Orsola Musica, the tailor-made chef.