Letter: Street Food Picnic Was A Great Success

Published on: 5 Aug, 2015
Updated on: 5 Aug, 2015

From Tony Rooth

Conservative borough councillor for Pilgrims ward and lead councillor for housing and social welfare

Guildford held its first ever “Street Food Picnic” on Saturday. It was great to see several thousand local people visit Allen House Gardens (off Chertsey Street ) – friends and families wanting to try street food .

There were freshly made dishes from Mexico, Indonesia, Italy , India , Spain, Persia and elsewhere- tasty paella, pizzas, burritos, lasagne , curry and many more.

Then many folks , especially parents and children, went up to the bowling green to picnic and have a drink and dessert – including ice cream, crepes and brownies.

So successful was it that many stall holders ran out of food to serve and had to restock – they did not expect so many visitors .

The sunny weather helped but all credit to organisers , Street Food Picnic for bringing a great event to Guildford – hopefully the first of many more to come.

Your borough council, who provided the site and facilities, can work with organisers , stall holders and residents to make the next food picnic even better.

However, it showed me (who helped direct newcomers) that many did not know what Allen House Gardens offer. Guildford has many lovely parks and gardens – readers should look on www.guildford.gov.uk/parksplaygroundsandgreenspaces or call Parks & Leisure Services on 01483 444718 or drop into the Tourist Information Centre on the High Street .

If nothing else, view the Castle Gardens for a fantastic flower display courtesy of our [award winning] parks team.

See also: Green Flag Awards For Seven Of Guildford’s Open Spaces

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