It was an Eel Festival to savour

Reference: 

029/14

Thousands of people came out to enjoy music, food and have fun in celebration of the humble eel this Bank Holiday weekend in Ely.

The tenth Eel Festival with an extravaganza from the stuffed toy eel throwing competition on the Market Place and activities in Jubilee Gardens to the Food and Drink Festival on Palace Green and the Eel Food Safari.

The city thronged with crowds all weekend as residents and visitors took part in the annual eel parade, listened to folk music and historical displays as well as tasted some fantastic food and witnessed some great food demonstrations in the shadow of Ely Cathedral.

Tracey Harding, Tourism and Town Centres Team Leader at East Cambridgeshire District Council said: "We had a fantastic Eel Festival this year a proper celebration of the ten years of Ely’s connection to the eel. We had planned to make the event bigger and better than ever before and thanks to the time and effort which all the participants put in I think we succeeded. It was wonderful to see so many people having fun and enjoying themselves throughout the four days whether they were joining the eel parade or tucking into some of the amazing food on Palace Green.

"The whole Eel Festival reminded me again how lucky we are to promote East Cambridgeshire given its natural resources and expertise which we saw demonstrated across the weekend. It is the support we have from local companies, community groups and organisations which help to make our celebration of the humble eel so successful."

For information on tourism activities in East Cambridgeshire visit: www.visitely.org.uk and follow us on Twitter @visitely.