Visit Isle of Wight are celebrating the success of the Festival Of The Sea. It was designed to engage with out-of-season visitors and as an opportunity for Island businesses to adopt nautical themes.
Simon Dabell, Visit Isle of Wight’s Chairman, said: “With 64 miles of coastline, beach resorts and wonderful coastal scenery, The Festival of the Sea is a perfect fit for the Island. During September, we realised that there was a series of small events already being planned by individual businesses and community organisations and we decided to offer our help in marketing these events to a wider audience, developing a marketing initiative to wrap approximately 50 events into a nine-day festival”.
Darren Beevers is head chef at The Hambrough in Ventnor. “Being an Island we’re surrounded by seafood and fish. It’s amazing stuff, some of the best in country, rivalling Cornwall or Scotland. Each part of the Island is renowned for something, whether that’s Bembridge prawns, Ventnor crab, and mackerel too. All the fish on our menu is from the Island. If it’s not on the Island we won’t use it.”
