Jetsettersblog

A quirky festival based near Penrith in Cumbria, England has started a search for a kitty that really is the cat’s whiskers.

The World’s Original Marmalade Festival, next taking place on February 14, 2010, at mansion and historic gardens, Dalemain, is not just eliciting entries of the best home made and artisan made marmalades for its prestigious competition, but also appealing for photographs of marmalade cats.

The 2010 event, sponsored by Premier Food and Tiptree, with support from Farm Stay UK, is likely to attract over 600 jars of marmalade within 11 different categories.

It has prizes and certificates available for those submitting the best preserves, has just come up with another award sure to suit any kingly cat.

The Best Marmalade Cat award will go to the most stunning looking cat, as adjudged from photographs sent in by its owners.

The winning cat will then have its photo displayed at the Festival event, to bask in the glory of having earned its stripes as a superb feline specimen. Entrants will have their picture uploaded to www.marmaladefestival.com

The Best Marmalade Cat competition is one Festival founder, Jane Hasell-McCosh is very much looking forward to judging.

Jane says: “We already have quirky categories into which marmalade can be entered, from those for members of the Clergy and Military alone, to Man-Made and then more traditional categories like Seville and Any Citrus.

“We think that this year’s Best Marmalade Cat competition will add another dimension to the event and open up Festival participation to a whole new group of people, who may or may not be able to make marmalade.”

Marmalade cats are those whose fur tends to be dark orange with small strips of yellow or brown running through. They can be Persian, British or American short-hair or Siamese.

They were feted in the 1930s books based on the character of Orlando the Marmalade Cat, whilst the 1979 movie, Alien, featured an orange-striped cat called Jones.

The most famous marmalade cat owner was Sir Winston Churchill, who stated in his Will that there should always be a marmalade cat called Jock in comfortable residence at Chartwell, Kent.

His original ‘Jock’ attended Wartime cabinet meetings and ate and slept with Churchill. The National Trust ensures that Churchill’s wishes are adhered to and still have a marmalade cat named Jock in residence at Chartwell.

Photos of marmalade cats, detailing the name and age of the cat and its owner’s address, telephone number and email address on the reverse, need to be sent to: Best Marmalade Cat Competition, The World’s Original Marmalade Festival, Dalemain, Near Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0HB. The closing date for entries is January 30, 2010.

Entrants wishing to have their photo returned should enclose a stamped addressed envelope.

If they do not want their photo to appear on the Festival website, they should make this clear.

For more details about the Festival and how to enter marmalade, or a designed marmalade label for which there is also a prize, visit www.marmaladefestival.com