We were delighted to be asked to prepare and host a picnic for a small group taking part in The Gower Walking Festival. We welcomed guests to our cottage in Penmaen overlooking Three Cliffs Bay.
The festival began in 2005 and was run by the Mumbles Tourist Association to raise money for the independent volunteer-managed Mumbles and Gower Tourist Information Office. It started with 35 walks over eight days and grew to 71 walks over 16 days, with over 1500 participants and in 2019, the festival embraced Visit Wales's Year of Discovery with a selection of both urban and rural walks.
The Gower Walking Festival is an annual celebration of Gower, to encourage participants from all backgrounds to enjoy a unique landscape and a rich heritage. It aims to achieve this by offering an organised, diverse and sustainable programme of events, with minimum environmental impact, to educate, encourage and sometimes challenge all who take part.
We prepared a picnic of homemade bread, ham hock terrine and pickles, Pisaladieres (a South of France speciality - open onion tart usually with tomatoes, olives and anchovies). We also created Empanadas - an Argentinian savoury filled pastry. We filled ours with roasted sweet potato, black bean and sausage. The walkers also enjoyed a delicious rhubarb and strawberry pannacotta with cardamon - suitably sweet to give them energy for the next leg of their trip!
