The Great British Cheese Festival

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The Great British Cheese Festival, is a festival held in the South or West of England on the last weekend of every September.

[edit] History

The first annual event was held in 1994 in Oxfordshire, and was founded by Juliet Harbutt. Each year it is preceded by an awards ceremony judged by food experts and farmers, and the best cheeses are awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold medals. All cheeses are tasted blind, and the winners can then display their awards during the public-attended festival. There are usually a variety of events at the festivals such as cheese rolling, demonstrations and stalls selling cheeses and other goods.

After a few years in Oxfordshire the event moved to Cheltenham in Glocuestershire. However in 2006 the Sunday of the weekend was cancelled at great cost due to flooding of the venue, so the decision was made to return to Oxfordshire for 2007.

2007's judges include the former Blur bassist turned farmer Alex James.