Flavour of Shetland

The 2006 Flavour of Shetland closed its gates recording a staggering 29,000 visits over the four day event. Everyone involved from event organisers, food and drink producers to craftspeople all agreed that the extravaganza had more than exceeded their expectations.

The entertainment marquee was a huge draw, attracting people with the promise of a quenching pint of ale poured by Valhalla Brewery or a cocktail from Blackwood Distillers while enjoying the very best musical line-up with live performances by visiting and local talent.

Bell and Bullock circus entertainers also created a lot of attention over the weekend, putting on an electric show for both children and adults. Their performance was complemented by a number of other popular activities including a clogging and drumming workshop, which was very well attended.

The market of craft stalls at the far end of Victoria Pier drew people right up to the top of the pier where stall holders experienced a very welcome boost in sales. The food stalls also did extremely well over the four days, with such a large and hungry audience to feed.

Local delicatessen The Olive Tree was extremely pleased with the level of trade. Proprietor Allan Groat said: "This is the first time we attended Flavour of Shetland and I am delighted at its success. It has certainly more than lived up to my expectations in terms of sales. After placing an initial order for 10kg of smoked mussels with Demlane Mussels for Thursday, we took in a double order on Friday and had completely sold out by Sunday lunchtime. Our fish plates and range of continental coffee also proved very popular.

"Taking part in the event has certainly helped to raise the profile of The Olive Tree and I would be extremely keen to be involved again another year."

Shetland Arts craft development officer Hazel Hughson is rightly proud of the craft demonstrations, which also attracted a lot of interest at the event. She said: "The four full days of craft activities organised by Shetland Arts were very popular with the theme changing daily.

"We wanted to encourage members of the public to try out the crafts for themselves - to experience the creativity in basketmaking, feltmaking and sock knitting, and to watch skilled carvers and woodworkers in a lightsome and informal setting on the pier, with the help of groups of skilled makers and designers from Shetland's creative community."

Another huge attraction was the seafood cookery demonstrations provided by Master Chefs George McIvor, chairman of the Master Chefs of Great Britain, and Donald Munro, regional business development chef at Nestle. Both chefs spoke extremely highly of the quality and freshness of the produce provided for the occasion. George McIvor said: "Having travelled the world, and lived in both New Zealand and Australia, I can honestly say that I have never seen such stunning quality seafood." Donald Munro added: "The quality of the produce we've used over the weekend is both amazing and inspiring, and meant it was easy to cook up a selection of different dishes. If we had this quality of produce on our doorstep everyday our job would be so much easier."

At the end of four hectic but extremely enjoyable days, event organiser Nicola Halcrow was delighted with its success. She said: "It is amazing to think that around 29,000 people visited Flavour of Shetland this year and the reasons for this surge in interest speak for themselves. We had the very best music, food and drink, crafts and entertainment in one place and that not only drew locals to the event, but also attracted interest from tourists and visiting yachtsmen taking part in the Shetland-Bergen Races and the Shetland Round Britain and Ireland Race.

"In Shetland we have many great products to be rightly proud of, and bringing these all together in one event proved to be a perfect recipe for success."