Food and farming will take centre stage in Ely Cathedral during the annual harvest festival next weekend (Friday 13 to Saturday 15 October).

Ely Standard: Ely Cathedral harvest weekend will feature sheep, a vintage tractor, local produce and flower displaysEly Cathedral harvest weekend will feature sheep, a vintage tractor, local produce and flower displays (Image: Archant)

Sheep, a vintage tractor, food and flower displays will feature as the National Farmers’ Union teams up with local organisations and companies to showcase the variety of produce grown in the Fens.

This year’s event will feature displays outside the cathedral on the Saturday too, including an irrigator used for watering potatoes and advice and information on saving water from Anglian Water. It all ties in with this year’s festival theme - the Water of Life - highlighting the role water pays in growing food.

Ely Standard: Ely Cathedral harvest weekend will feature sheep, a vintage tractor, local produce and flower displays . Root crops are pictured.Ely Cathedral harvest weekend will feature sheep, a vintage tractor, local produce and flower displays . Root crops are pictured. (Image: Archant)

Bob Lawrence, NFU county chairman, said: “This event is always a fantastic shop window for food and farming and it promises to be better than ever this year.

“We’re looking forward to a busy weekend celebrating the very best of farming and growing in Cambridgeshire in the spectacular surroundings of Ely Cathedral.”

Ely Standard: Ely Cathedral harvest weekend will feature sheep, a vintage tractor, local produce and flower displaysEly Cathedral harvest weekend will feature sheep, a vintage tractor, local produce and flower displays (Image: Archant)

Sheep supplied by farmers Mark Drew and Frances Cook from Rampton, Cambridgeshire, will be taking temporary home inside the cathedral, along with an Allis-Chalmers Model B tractor, dating back to the 1940s.

There will be a water-themed floral arrangement prepared by the Cathedral Flower Guild and a children’s trail arranged by the cathedral’s education team.

There will be activities for children in the Lady Chapel on the Saturday as well, including potato printing and decorating.

Organisations taking part include Cambridgeshire Beekeepers, the Farmland Museum at Denny Abbey, G’s Growers at Barway, Tompsett Burgess Growers, Rampton Spinners and Cambridge-based research organisation NIAB.

Events start at 7pm on Friday (13) with a harvest supper in the Lady Chapel, including musical entertainment. Tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 for children under 16. They are available from the Ely Cathedral box office on 01353 660349.

The harvest festival exhibition is open from 10am to 5pm on Saturday (14) and 12.30pm to 4pm on Sunday (15), the start of the harvest Songs of Praise service. Admission to Ely Cathedral is free on both days.

On Monday (16) the best of the produce will be sold off at 9.30am, with money raised going to this year’s chosen charity, the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.

Visit www.elycathedral.org/events/harvest-festival for more information.