Fancy winning dinner at 52 North Devon restaurants?

PUBLISHED: 12:37 11 April 2016 | UPDATED: 09:22 12 April 2016

Crowds at Barnstaple's first Seafood Festival

Archant

A year's worth of free meals at 52 restaurants is the prize being drawn at the Seafood Festival in Barnstaple in May

Sheppard's Cafe seafood crepes

Barnstaple will host its second annual Seafood Festival in May, following a hugely successful inaugural event in 2015. At this celebration of the sea, a winner will also be drawn for North Devon Hospice’s‘Eating Out Experience’ raffle. This will see one lucky person winning a whole year’s worth of eating out in local restaurants...absolutely free!

The Seafood Festival, as well as the Eating Out Experience Raffle, is the brainchild of Geoff Morton, owner of Fatbelly Fred’s seafood restaurant in Barnstaple. All funds raised are being donated to North Devon Hospice.

Geoff said: “One of the nicest problems about living in North Devon is simply having so many amazing restaurants, because you never get the chance to try them all. The winner of this raffle will be spoilt for choice as they will get to eat out for free in a wide variety of restaurants. It will be an unforgettable experience and I’m sure they are going to be extremely popular with their family and friends because each meal is for two people!”

The Seafood Festival and raffle are the brainchild of Geoff Morton, owner of Fatbelly Fred’s seafood restaurant in Barnstaple.

Of the Seafood Festival itself, Geoff added that it was a timely celebration of the outstanding quality of food produced in the area.

“More and more these days people are interested in where their food came from, how it was caught and by whom; sustainability and provenance is massive. We live by the coast and a lot of our seafood goes off to France, Spain and even China, where they love our whelks. But local people want to enjoy good quality produce from our coast and we need to be supporting our industry.”

Emma Lowe, from North Devon Hospice’s fundraising team, has been instrumental in creating the event. She said, “We were inundated with people last year, so we hope it will be equally busy this time around. There is clearly an appetite for fresh local produce, but I’m also proud that we have such a variety of stalls at our Seafood Festival, and it’s much more than just fish. It really will be a great day out for the family, with cooking demonstrations, free tasters and much more.

Dan the Fish Man's mussel paella

“It is also your last chance to get your name in the hat for the Eating Out Experience Raffle. This is a truly incredible prize, because we have 52 top local restaurants signed up, which means you can eat our free every week for a whole year! Most importantly though, every pound raised will help North Devon Hospice care for local people affected by cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. So we hope to see lots of people join us on 22nd May.”

The Seafood Festival takes place in Barnstaple Pannier Market from 10am til 4pm on Sunday 22 May. Entry is free, with the Eating Out Experience Raffle being drawn at 3pm.

Thanks to go Toptown Printers, HolidayCottages.co.uk and Kentisbury Grange for supporting the Eating Out Experience Raffle.