Lavender Festival - Summer Fair 2008

The Lavender Festival has been described by many as a huge success; 12,000 people visited Lavender Hill on Sunday 22nd June and they were all made very welcome by the traders - the hosts of the event.

The purple coloured balloons (kindly sponsored by Temples estate agents) were sprinkled the length of Lavender Hill and whilst the many visiting stalls and stands set up in the morning, the buzzy atmosphere began to build throughout the street. The many young volunteers who made up the Official Organising Team, all wearing t.shirts specially printed (thanks to Ceelect Sports) for the event, circulated around the Hill, making sure people were able to find the entertainment and activities they wanted to find, whilst also aiding the traders and stall holders collect donations for our chosen charity, Breast Cancer Care.

Meanwhile, our honorary Town Crier Beverley (dressed by the Party Superstore), rang her bell and sang out the news that the Festival had opened  - with an "Oh Yea Oh Yea" and "God Save the Queen" for good measure!

ASDA, one of the Official Overall Sponsors of the event, hosted the enormous bouncy castle and their staff, headed up by the multi-talented Kimberley, provided a super face-painting service for the children - with all proceeds going to charity. Just up the road in Elspeth Park, the local nusery children from The Baby Room enjoyed a Music and Dance class, under the shade of the trees and amongst the specially planted Lavender (thanks to the Town Centre Partnership - Wandsworth Council), whilst hosting their very own Open Day and also collecting a sizeable sum to be added to the grand total (soon to be announced). 

The main focus of the day was on the wonderful sellection of Food and Drink available on Lavender Hill - the restaurants each served samples and portions of their fine cuisine  for the visitors to try - from Thai (Tumnan Thai) to Italian (Donna Margherita) and from Sri Lankan (Ceylon Tavern) to Nepalese (Kathmandu) - all of which were flooded with hungry customers and all contributed to the cause. The Kisse Bar acted as Festival HQ, all the while churning out their tasty frozen margheritas, whilst next door Mish Mash served from their huge selection of exotic looking cocktails and provided children's entertainment - with balloon figures and face painting. Mish Mash entertained many on their sun drenched patio, which had an excellent view of the bands and DJ's playing outside Enak Enak and the Drum Shack (both shops!).

Lavender Hill was very pleased to welcome the Mayor of Wandsworth to the event, along with many other well-known local faces, including the MP for Battersea Martin Linton, Cllr James Cousins, Jane Ellison (Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Battersea), Lorinda Freint (Town Centre Manager) and also Kerry Dixon (ex England & Chelsea FC), who kindly judged the 1pm Dog Show, hosted by the vetinary practice All Creatures.   

The Taybridge pub hosted the World Record Attempt to eat the most Ferrero Rocher chocolates in one minute, which pulled an enormous crowd throughout the day - watching the 60 competitors work their way through nearly 300 chocolates! A video is being made up from all the attempts and will soon be uploaded on LavenderHill.co.uk - watch this space!

Lillidiva provided a wonderful selection of beautifully decorated cup cakes with all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Care, whilst Olivier's Lounge have donated 10% of all sales on the day. Bocconcino cafe had a special fresh bread stall and next door, the Perfect Smile team held a cross word competition. 

Please join with us in thanking all the participants of the Festival, special thanks going to the sponsors of the event, including the overall official sponsors ASDA and Cluttons estate agents. If you enjoyed the day with us on Lavender Hill, please visit the forum and let everyone know!

Pictures from the festival, click on any picture to start the slideshow ...........