A TEESDALE mother is using her entrepreneurial spirit to bring the first city-style gin festival to Barnard Castle.
Mr Foxx’s Fabulous Gin Fest is being billed as a highlight of the summer festival season with a host of artisan gin makers heading to the town along with local live entertainment.
The founder of Mr Foxx Events, Donna Dobson, said she was motivated to start her business after visiting gin festivals in cities such as Edinburgh and Newcastle.
“It came at the same time as I’d been to a gathering in Barney of business owners where we were asked for our ideas to support The Witham and the town. I couldn’t understand why nothing like a gin festival had been done before, so then I thought I would organise it myself,” she explained.
The Fabulous Gin Fest, to be held at The Witham on Saturday, August 31, from 6pm will follow two similar events at Mowden Park RFC Northern Echo Arena in Darlington on June 29 from noon to 5pm and 6.30pm to 11.30pm. All the events are supported by Martin Miller’s Gin and Fever-Tree Mixers.
Ms Dobson added: “It’s frustrated me that events like this are typically held only in the big cities, which means people have to travel and spend more. I’d rather that money stayed in the local area and that we have high quality events for people on our doorstep.
“If we want to save our high streets and support artisan makers then we have to do something about it and make our own entertainment, using community spaces that need our support. You don’t even have to love gin to come along and have a good night out.”
About 20 producers are set to be represented at the festivals. Guests will be able to meet the makers, watch masterclasses and try tasters of the range of gins on offer, many of which will be available to buy to take home.
Among the makers will be Little Quaker Distillery, a husband and wife team from Darlington which launched Quaker Gin last year; Didsbury Gin, which earlier this year won investment on Dragon’s Den; and Aber Falls Distillery, which produces premium gins in a small village at the gateway to Snowdonia National Park.
Nottingham-based Cocktail Pickers Club will showcase its fresh fruit puree mixers to taste and buy, and local brand Botham Wines will offer an alternative for non-gin lovers.
Ms Dobson said: “I’m really excited about bringing makers to Barney and giving gin-lovers a chance to try gins they may not have had before and might not even have heard of. It’s going to be a fantastic event.”
Details of prices and tickets for the event, which is for over 18s, are available from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mr-foxxs-fabulous-gin-
fest-tickets-56410624697
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
