During its heyday in the roaring 20s, the Pershore Flower Show was described as the ‘largest plum show on Earth’. Almost 100 years later this bustling riverside town has worked hard to recreate this spectacle with the annual Pershore Plum Festival.
The month-long event culminates over the August Bank Holiday weekend and this year the festival celebrates its 21st birthday with a host of free activities for all the family.
Resurrected in 1996, the Pershore Plum Festival is “coming of age” this year and 2017 also sees the 190th anniversary of the discovery of the yellow egg plum, found in Worcestershire’s Tyddesley Wood by George Crooke in 1827.
Since then, it has grown into a major event for Pershore, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from around the globe each year. The Worcestershire market town becomes a sea of purple and yellow throughout August in homage to the plums which make the town so famous; the Pershore Purple and the Pershore Yellow Egg Plum. All the shop windows are themed to the colours, residents wear purple and not only can you buy every type of plum, you can find just about anything flavoured with plums, from sausages to soap.
Plum Coach Tours take place every week in August allowing you to visit the orchards as well as many of the restaurants and cafes that offer plum menus. The Festival finale is held over the bank holiday weekend of 26th – 28th August – its vast Food Village only features stall holders who have agreed to sell something plummy. There will be nearly 100 stalls and attractions selling plum-themed goodies, Festival mementoes and offering people the chance to taste scores of plum varieties.
As well as festival mascots, Eggbert and his girlfriend Prunella Plum, entertainers and musicians will be on hand to keep the crowds amused across all three days and the organisers promise something for everyone. Saturday is Retail & Heritage Day, Sunday is Healthy Family Fun Day and Monday is the Plum Fayre itself.
Over 1000 classic cars will be on show in the grounds of Pershore Abbey, there’s a Plum Fun Zone with a fair, Banghra and Samba workshops, Zorbing, Storytelling, River boat trips, Dragon Boat racing, a WW11 display and an Arts Trail plus lots of other family attractions.
To find out more, visit the Plum Festival website at www.pershoreplumfestival.org.uk
