Rodda's 'Chilli Cook-off' at the 'Outer Fringe'

Helena suggested we went to our local, the 'Crown and Sceptre', just a hundred yards from our house where Rodda, the landlord, had organised a mini festival – ‘The Outer Fringe’. Normally the August Bank Holiday weekend is when Stroud’s Fringe Festival is held, but it has been difficult to arrange in the last couple of years for obvious reasons. This is a scaled down very local version.

Rodda organises events whenever he can and they always bring the local and wider community to gather at the pub and in the marquee erected in its garden. This year there are three days of music every afternoon and evening in the marquee where countless real ales and local cider are available on tap.

When we arrived I immediately bumped into Andrew, a good old school friend of mine, who is having health difficulties. I think Helena was able to offer some possible help to make his life easier in future. When I went into the marquee to check on the music I immediately bumped into Rodda, who ‘told’ me to get ready to take some pictures of the judging of the annual charity ‘Chilli Cook-Off’.  I took this picture at that moment to start proceedings off. A few local people had prepared and cooked their Chilli food and now the judges were blind tasting their offerings between music acts. Once the results were announced the food was offered to the festival-goers, with donations to charity.

I’ve added a few ‘Extras’ to show the atmosphere but will remove them in due course to allow me to add more ‘Extras’ in days to come. I hope they provide a sense of the fun and conviviality that Rodda always creates.