Mendip District Council will be serving up something special for residents this summer, thanks to a new partnership with the multi award-winning eat: Festivals team.

For the first time in Mendip, the popular food and drink events will be delivering four 'little eat: Festivals' in Street, Glastonbury, Wells and Shepton Mallet during July and August, showcasing around 20 of Somerset's finest local producers.

Residents and visitors will have an opportunity to learn about the stories behind the local produce from the makers, first hand, as well as rediscover what their town centre has to offer. Music and street entertainers will be performing for the crowds with their strolling acts, throughout the day.

The events have been commissioned by Mendip District Council, working with eat: Festivals and with monies from the European Regional Development Fund. They will run as follows:

• Street, High Street, Sunday, 11th July
• Glastonbury, St. Dunstan's car park, Sunday, 18th July
• Wells, Cathedral Green, Sunday, 25th July
• Shepton Mallet, Market Place, Sunday, 8th August

Cllr Simon Carswell, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development at Mendip District Council, said: "We are delighted to be able to accommodate these local, fresh food and drink festival events, and to be working with the highly respected eat: Festivals team. This is a new partnership for us at the Council and we are convinced they will provide a welcome boost to our high streets, enhancing our already-popular Mendip Markets offer, and attracting even more local people and visitors to our towns and city.

"The festivals will be held in the open air and will have measures in place to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. So everyone can feel confident when they shop."

The eat: Festivals are a social enterprise, founded by Bev and Sarah Milner Simonds in their hometown of Burnham-on-Sea back in 2012. They have steadily grown in size and reputation over the years and now host more than 20 major food and drink spectaculars in Somerset, Devon, South Gloucestershire and Dorset annually.

Bev Milner Simonds, of eat: Festivals, said: "We are delighted to be working in Mendip this summer and helping the local businesses welcome back shoppers and visitors. The small producers we work with, and many high street businesses, have had a horrid 18 months. Getting back to face to face, or mask to visor trading, is such a welcome step on the roadmap to economic recovery and we are proud to play a part in this.

"The four events in Mendip are a smaller scale than our other events - but you can still expect to find farmers' markets favourites alongside top class street food, music and entertainers.

"We have worked hard to adapt our larger events to minimise the risk of transmission of covid and provide a safe, welcoming offer in town and city centres across the South West and we will be bringing the same high standards to these 'Little Eat' events in Mendip too."

European Regional Development Fund: This project is receiving up to £4,500 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.