Stockbridge Trout n’ About - how it all started

Back in 2007, the first Trout n’ About food festival started with a handful of stalls running halfway down one side of Stockbridge High Street.

Last year, the Trout n’ About food and craft festival had more than 160 traders lining both sides of the road and stretching onto the Recreation Ground.

The High Street was closed to traffic. More than 10,000 people enjoyed sunny Stockbridge in all its glory.

“We never thought we’d get to this level,” said Trout n’ About founder Richard Gueterbock

“When we started [in 2007] we looked to learn from established local festivals like Alresford Watercress. Now TnA is comparable.”

TnA is a community event, run completely by local volunteers, with an independent co-ordinating committee.

During the last 18 years, it’s become a permanent fixture in the Stockbridge Summer calendar – on the first Sunday of every August.

Richard said: “I remember standing in the rain at the end of the first TnA thinking; will it ever happen again?

“But we’ve had sunshine most years since then, and that first festival gave us enough confidence to carry on.

“After five years, we’d become so popular that we stopped advertising. Word of mouth and the banners and posters we put up, were enough to keep people coming.”

TnA has expanded onto the Recreation Ground (branded Festival Field, for the day), with on-stage entertainment and festival food for families, on the grass.

And last year, the High Street was closed to traffic for the first time. For the first time, festivalgoers crossing the road didn’t have to dodge cars and trucks.

“We’d got to the point where it was becoming unsafe,” said Richard. “Closing the road was a total game-changer.”

Last summer, crowds turned up in bigger numbers. They also stayed longer – making it a bumper day for both stallholders and local traders.

And the numbers could be bigger still on August 3, for TnA 2025. More than 200 local food, drink, craft and textile businesses applied for a pitch.

There will be brewers and blacksmiths; bakers and butchers; florists and jewellers. There will be stalls selling Hampshire wines and Wiltshire liqueurs – and others offering Somerset ciders, and New Forest teas.

Organisers will even have Winchester Morris Dancers performing on the High Street.

All of which makes Kim Candler – treasurer of the original, independent Trout N’ About committee – very happy.

He and Richard Gueterbock organised the first festivals using cash from the Market Towns Initiative, a government plan to help revitalise England’s rural market towns.

Kim said: “Our original objectives were to raise the profile of Stockbridge, promote local quality food, provide a platform for local businesses and create an enjoyable event for the community. Looking back, I think we succeeded!”

Another aim of TnA has been to generate a surplus that can be donated to local good causes, with allocation based on a vote among the event’s helpers and volunteers.

Since the festival started making a surplus in 2012, it has handed out more than £60,000 to dozens of charities and community groups in the SO20 postcode.

They include Stockbridge Primary School, Stockbridge Football Club, Longstock Allotments, Broughton Pre-school, St Peter’s Stockbridge and St Nicholas’ Leckford.

“It’s the most important thing about Trout n’ About,” said Chair Bob Powell.

“Last year we raised £10,000 for good causes and gave another £3,000 to the parish council to help with projects around Stockbridge. That’s what makes Trout n’ About such a special event.”

Trout N’ About 2025 takes place on Sunday August 3. If you’d like to get involved as a volunteer, email traders@tnastockbridge.com