There’s going to be plenty to shout about at this year’s Newmarket Sausage Festival, and we’re starting things off with a very special announcement!
Newmarket’s very own Town Crier, Brenda Willison, will officially open the fifth annual Sausage Festival at 10am on Saturday 26th September in Market Square.
With a new-look festival, a brand-new Cookery Theatre, more than 25 artisan food and drink traders and a fantastic programme of free family entertainment, Brenda certainly won’t be short of things to shout about!
The festival, sponsored by Musk’s Sausages, promises to be our biggest and best yet, celebrating the humble sausage alongside some of the region’s finest food producers, makers and businesses.
Meet Brenda – Newmarket’s Town Crier
Brenda is no stranger to making herself heard. She has been a Town Crier since September 1987, when she began her career as Deputy Town Crier of Peterborough. She went on to become Town Crier of Market Deeping in Lincolnshire, a role she held for more than 20 years, before moving to the Peak District where she became Town Crier of Bakewell.
Today, Brenda is proud to be Newmarket’s Town Crier, carrying out a number of ceremonial duties for Newmarket Town Council at local parades, civic events and celebrations over the years.
Her career has taken her around the world and included some very special occasions. Brenda has performed at Buckingham Palace for celebrations marking the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday, Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. She also travelled to the Tower of London for a special celebration for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
But perhaps one of her most memorable cries took place much further afield.
In 1995, Brenda travelled to Thailand and delivered a special Cry for Peace on the Bridge over the River Kwai on Remembrance Sunday, marking 50 years of peace.
In 2018, she was asked by Bruno Peek, the Queen’s Pageant Master, to provide a special cry for the Battles Over – Nations’ Tribute, commemorating 100 years of peace since the end of the First World War. Her cry was subsequently performed by more than 150 Town Criers around the world on 11 November 2018.
And Brenda certainly has the credentials when it comes to being heard. At the British Town Criers’ Championship in Lincoln in 1997, she was measured at an impressive 109 decibels, earning the accolade of the loudest in Britain!
She has also competed internationally, including coming second in the British Championship at Hebden Bridge in 2012, in what has traditionally been a male-dominated profession.
So, what makes a good Town Crier?
According to Brenda, it takes a good voice, a good pair of lungs and a good pair of legs – along with a sense of history and tradition, a sense of humour and, of course, a liking for dressing up!
Town Criers have been making important announcements and bringing communities together for centuries, and Brenda believes there is still something special about seeing and hearing a Town Crier today.
And we couldn’t agree more!
So, make sure you’re in Market Square at 10am on Saturday 26th September and get ready to hear Brenda officially declare the fifth Newmarket Sausage Festival open!
With sausages, artisan food producers, live cooking, competitions, family entertainment and plenty of fun, there really will be lots to shout about.
Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Come along to the Newmarket Sausage Festival!