Shipston Food Festival launches Sheep Pie-Making Contest!

The Shipston Food Festival is celebrating Shipston’s woolly heritage in gastronomic style with the launch of its Sheep Pie competition. 

The main category in the cooking competition will be the creation of a sheep pie to serve four people. There are no restrictions on other ingredients, the shape or the style of the pie, as long as lamb plays a leading role. Chairman of the festival, Dan Scobie, explained: “Shipston owes a great deal to sheep. The wool industry is a vital part of our history and Shipston itself translates as “Sheep Wash Town”. We’re combining that history with the Great British Pie to make the perfect cooking competition. Not surprisingly, we have a number of willing judges lined up!”

With less than a month to go to Shipston’s Food and Beer Festival weekend, the organising committee are calling on all bakers and jam makers to take part in the event’s cooking competition. 

With youngsters having their own categories adults will not only have the pie championships to enter, but will be encouraged to fight it out in the bread, jam and chutney challenges too. Keen bakers will also be tasked with making a cake from a choice of two set recipes.

Thanks to support from local businesses Shipston Food Festival will take place over three days, beginning on Friday 19th September with the Beer Festival at Shipston Rugby Club. On Saturday 20th, entries will be invited into the baking competition and the all important judging will take place.

The Town Square will host the main event on Sunday 21st, with the High Street and Market Place expected to be full to bursting with gourmet goodies. The event is being sponsored by Hook Norton Brewery, Cooperative Food, Shipston Card,  Taste of the Country and KMS Litho Print.

Chairman, Dan Scobie, said: “We are very grateful to all our sponsors who have helped make this year’s festival possible. We are really excited about the event and we look forward to welcoming as many people as possible throughout the weekend.”

As well as stalls, there will be live entertainment and a fundraising raffle with fantastic prizes. The best advice? Arrive hungry!