Melton’s Artisan Cheese Fair to be held as a ‘virtual event’

2017 Artisan Cheese Fair : Russell Cook tries samples cheese with his grand-daughter Gracie Ward (7). EMN-200429-163311001

More than 70 producers from the UK and Ireland were due to showcase hundreds of cheeses at the town’s livestock market this weekend.

But in a bid to stimulate business at a difficult time for the industry, the show will still go ahead, albeit online.

Organiser Matthew O’Callaghan will be posting information about producers and where to buy their cheeses, starting on Saturday and running through to Monday, May 11.

He told the Melton Times: “Cheesemakers in particular are having a tough time during lockdown.

“I hope people will get behind our iconic cheesemakers and make an effort to seek out and buy British cheese, some of which rank as the best in the world.”

Visit the online fair at www.artisancheesefair.co.uk with the ‘virtual gates’ opening at 11am on Saturday.

If public events are allowed again by the autumn, Mr O’Callaghan hopes to hold the artisan cheese fair as a joint show with the annual ChocFest on the weekend of November 21 and 22 at the livestock market.

The East Midlands Food Festival, on October 3 and 4, remains scheduled to go ahead but will depend on whether restrictions are lifted by then.