Chocolate & Gin Festival sets the city centre a buzz over Easter weekend…

Over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend the Coventry Bid Team laid a treat with the Chocolate & Gin Festival. The #Covhour team thought it would be rude not to get in on the action so we took it in turns to take a look at what was going on.

On the Friday Emma took her family into the town centre. They started by taking a look at the breath taking Knife Angel which is currently positioned outside Coventry Cathedral. The sculpture is fashioned from 100,000 knives that have been seized by police and created by artist Alfie Bradley. The children took time to read all the notes that had been attached to the railings and were shocked to see that an 8-year-old died because of knife crime.

They then made their way up to Broadgate where the weather made them feel like they were in Spain rather than Coventry. The hopscotches that were dotted around the city centre went down a storm with the kids and the adults. They took a look around the stalls and then grabbed a bite to eat at Mod Pizza before the adults treated themselves to drink at Bayley Lane.

On Saturday Jo and her husband went into the City Centre – the first place they visited was The Gin Trailer and they tried a lovely lemongrass gin – they were very grateful for the recommendation as it was delicious. They then took a trip to Drapers to have a look at the dig at Old Drapers Hall (Jo can’t wait to get inside this venue when it is completed). They then had a walk to the Cathedral to take a look at the Knife Angel before it leaves the City in May. Next on the list was the Transport museum to see the exhibition – Taxi – the story from A to B and seeing how important Coventry has been in this industry. Both Jo and her husband felt like a tourist in their own city, there are so many hidden gems in this city to discover and enjoy.

On Sunday Kate and her family dropped into the City Centre. After lots of hopscotch fun they headed to Coventry Cathedral to take a look at the Knife Angel. It was their first visit and an important one in terms of talking openly about Knife Crime. Kate and her family took some time to think about those who had lost their lives. They then took a walk back through the beautiful Cathedral before stopping for drinks at The Botanist, it was such a warm day that they decided to sit out on the balcony. A quick trip round the food stalls and a couple of purchases later it was time to try one last hopscotch on the way home.

This was a great warm-up act for the Coventry Food Festival which is only a couple of weeks away on the 11th and 12th May.