FOOD and wine lovers flocked to a new festival to sample delicious produce from local suppliers.

West Street Vineyard hosted the first Coggeshall Food and Drink Festival over the weekend, attracting nearly 3,000 visitors.

There were demonstrations in sushi making and bread baking, a champagne and seafood bar, a beer tent, and live music from the Lady Killers.

Vineyard owner Jane Mohan, 47, said the event was a great success, adding: “We have never done a food festival before, the idea came about because we have got a lot of local suppliers who we wanted to thank, and we wanted to celebrate harvest time.

“We started planning in January and got all our suppliers involved. It’s a really nice family day with a nice atmosphere.

“Sometimes Essex comes off as not having a great reputation, but I think we have some of the best food suppliers in the country and we haven’t heard about them enough.

“There are undiscovered Essex gems.”

Money raised from the festival will go towards St Helena Hospice, based in Colchester.

Champagne Moments, a company which also hosts a Christmas market in Marks Tey, helped put the festival together.

Organiser Trisha Whitehouse said she was delighted with the turnout.

She added: “Everyone seemed to be loving it, there was a really nice atmosphere.

“Whether we hold the festival next year is something we will discuss later, but we’re hoping it will be the first of a regular event.”