A UNIQUE dining experience was hailed a success as a popular food festival got under way at the weekend.

Taste Cumbria Ulverston welcomed thousands of visitors across a weekend which saw an array of mouthwatering events.

The event was kick-started by a pop-up restaurant in the town's most famous landmark.

Kevin Tickle, head chef at the Forest Side, Grasmere, delighted 10 specially invited guests for an exclusive meal inside the Sir John Barrow monument, on Hoad in Ulverston.

<iframe width="640" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HxsS1E-3NLk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

One of his guests included Ulverston town mayor Paul Smith, who said: "I thought it was absolutely fantastic and the food was absolutely stunning.

"The atmosphere, the decor, the presentation was all amazing and I really hope to see them do this more in the future.

"Their love of food was expressed through their food evidently. It was a thoroughly good evening and a great opening to the festival.

"To pull it all off and cook it in the monument on induction hobs was a fantastic feat in itself."

The Michelin-star chef and his team at the restaurant treat guests to a champagne reception and multiple-course meal in the middle of the monument.

The meal included a starter of pigs tail, followed by a beetroot dish and an fish dish with a North Atlantic cod with asparagus.

The pinnacle of the meal consisted of a Herdwick Hogget before a finale of strawberry clotted cream with almond and marigold.

In keeping with the spirit of the festival, he used a range of distinctive Cumbrian ingredients in his meals.

The event was another successful outing for the festival, despite storms late on Saturday afternoon.

Festival organiser Anna Lyttle, of CN Events, said: "What a fabulous weekend we’ve had in Ulverston. They don’t call it the festival town for nothing. There was such a great buzz around the streets and so many smiling people enjoying everything our great producers had to offer.

"Yet again, the weather was kind to us. The downpour on Saturday didn't arrive until almost the end of the afternoon so that didn’t spoil anyone’s fun.

"The pop-up restaurant at the Hoad on Friday night was a great success and that’s all thanks to Kevin and the fantastic team from the hotel.

"On Saturday night there was a comedy open mic event, organised by the brilliant folks from Another Fine Fest, and, throughout the weekend, The Sun Inn hosted a great beer festival too.

"I have to thank our producers and demo experts as well. Every visitor was absolutely spoilt for choice when it came to eating the amazing food. It’s fair to say the event team did their fair share of that too – it’s a tough job but somebody has to do it."

Read more:

Ulverston festival basks in sun.

Monument to be turned into pop-up Michelin-Starred restaurant.