Festival of Fun

WELWYN GARDEN CITY — Wet weather certainly didn’t stop a record number of visitors from pouring in at the College’s annual Food Festival event yesterday, 8 July, coinciding with the Olympic Torch.

Celebrating foods from around the world, Oaklands College in collaboration with Welwyn Garden City Town Centre Partnership invited local restaurants to cook up unusual and exciting dishes for visitors to try.

The Food Festival featured restaurants from Indian, Chinese and Japanese, to Caribbean, Italian and African. There were also stalls featuring speciality sausages, jams and chutneys as well as the College’s very own catering team producing fantastic hand iced cupcakes and spicy chicken kebabs.

JACK FM ensured that the crowds were entertained throughout the day introducing performances from belly dancing through to singing and Zumba demonstrations. Stealing the show with their Bhangra dancing were the Asian drummers, who were called back on stage for an encore after already performing twice on stage and once at the food stalls.

Oaklands beauty department offered face painting and holistic hand massages, whilst the construction, childcare and sports team offered games for children ranging from colouring to basketball and interactive puzzles.

Craft stalls were selling an array of goodies from clothes, jewellery and scarves to vintage decorations for the home. Visitors also had the chance to have their hands adorned in henna and their eyebrows threaded.

Zoe Hancock, Principal of Oaklands College, commented: “The festival brought together so many different cultures and a real sense of community. It was also a great day for all of the family, with something for everyone to enjoy. It was great to see so many people enjoying the day from the food to the entertainment to the passing of the Olympic Torch.”

“I would like to thank our partners at the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, the food stalls, entertainers, the staff and most importantly the visitors that made the day a fantastic success.”