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Spirit of the Exe

Estuary Festival takes place on the Maer in Exmouth.

The event brought together many of the businesses, clubs and community groups that are vital to the life and vibrancy of the Exe and provided an opportunity to showcase their services and activities. The story of the Exe was told through several informative presentations held throughout the day that covered such topics as the wildlife and history of the Exe. Entertainment was provided by local band the Paul Strange Quartet and the theatrical group Common Players.



The day was a lively and positive event that gave numerous visitors the chance to learn more about the Exe and take part in activities, such as puppet making, as well as enjoy local entertainment. Exmouth Mussels provided one of the most popular attractions with their ‘taste the Exe’ stall, cooking and selling delicious cockles, mussels and oysters from the estuary.

All of the organisations and individuals involved worked incredibly hard to make sure the event was informative and enjoyable and the Partnership would like to say a huge thank you to everybody who contributed to the success of the event.

Jenny Lockett, who organised the festival commented, “The event was a fantastic success, we were incredibly lucky with the weather and this contributed to the amazing community atmosphere that was really apparent to everybody throughout the day. As the first of an annual event we are incredibly pleased with how well it went and although there are lessons that we have learnt for next year we really couldn't have asked for it to be any better.”

The festival would not have been possible without the inspiration and enthusiasm of the Exe Action group, which met regularly throughout the planning of the event to discuss progress and contribute ideas. Our special thanks go to all those involved and in particular to Jenny Budden and Diane Hill for their tireless support and commitment as well as the many Exmouth volunteers who they recruited to create interactive trails.

We hope to hold next year’s ‘Spirit of the Exe’ festival in Dawlish, if you would be interested in contributing to the design and development of the festival please contact Jenny Lockett to find out more.

The Partnership is currently preparing a festival toolkit and report which will be available from our website soon.

From the Autumn 2009 Exe-press Newsletter.