It's the event sweet-toothed fans have been waiting for - the UK's first ever doughnut festival. A rising star in the doughnut industry, Project D, has announced it will be hosting a sugar-coated extravaganza dubbed ‘Glaze-tonbury' next year.
The mouth-watering event will feature live bands, activities and celebrate “all things doughnut”, at an undisclosed venue in summer 2024. The company is keeping the potential music line-up a closely guarded secret, refusing to confirm rumours that it may feature the likes of The Sweet, The Jam and Sugababes.
Fans will certainly be hoping to hear songs including ‘Doughnut Stop Believing’, ‘Hole Lotta Love’ and ‘Everything I Dough, I Dough It For You’. Tickets for the event are yet to go on sale, though the firm will be supplying free tickets to any member of the public that invests at least £50 in its current crowdfunding campaign.
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The Derby-based bakery, which has frequent pop-ups in Nottinghamshire, launched a £400,000 online crowdfund campaign on Crowdcube last month as part of plans to quadruple its £3m turnover within the next three years. Max Poynton, co-founder and marketing director, said: “If you like doughnuts, this festival will surely sprinkle a little joy into your summer next year. ‘You should certainly ‘ring’ the date in your calendar as soon as we announce it. It’s definitely something Homer Simpson would approve of."
Max said that, with doughnuts hitting ever-increasing heights in popularity, Project D hoped the UK’s first doughnut festival would eventually become an annual event. “It’s the first time that the UK will have celebrated all things doughnut in a festival solely dedicated to the nation’s favourite sweet treat,” he said. “But it’s what many of our loyal customers and social media followers have been asking for. And we’re hugely excited about delivering a festival that some have already dubbed ‘Glaze-tonbury’!”
The festival, inspired by similar events in the US and Australia, will include doughnut tasting stations, a doughnut eating competition, doughnut-inspired fancy dress and doughnut masterclasses with Project D’s own creative director Matt Bond.
There will also be food and refreshment outlets featuring many of Project D’s joint collaborations, including a 3,000-calorie doughnut burger that hit the headlines in national newspapers and radio stations last year.
If it seems a long time to wait, in the meantime there will be a Project D pop-up at Parkdale Primary School, Carlton, on Friday, June 30 from 5-7pm and at Ruddington Market, on The Green, on Saturday, July 1 from 9am-12.30pm.
Project D has grown to become a doughnut sensation in just five years since former school friends Max Poynton, Matt Bond and Jacob Watts launched the firm from a kitchen table in 2018. It has since moved into a purpose-built, 11,000 sq ft bakery capable of churning out up to 17m doughnuts a year.
The company’s crowdfunding campaign, which is already close to raising its initial target investment despite not yet being fully opened to public investors, is likely to be expanded to allow even quicker growth than originally envisaged.
People who invest the minimum qualifying amount of £50 will be eligible to receive a free ticket to the UK’s first doughnut festival. Other doughnut fans are urged to keep an eye on Project D’s website projectdoughnut.co.uk for future announcements on the date and venue of the festival.
In its relatively short existence, Project D has collaborated with many global heavyweight brands such as British Airways, Brewdog, Amazon, Sainsbury’s and Coca-Cola. Anyone interested in finding out more about the firm’s crowdfund investment opportunity should visit crowdcube.com/companies/project-d/pitches/lO0WBZ
