Hayling pub, The Olive Leaf, to launch Mediterranean festival complete with tapas, live music and Tiki bars

On August 27, The Olive Leaf at Hayling Island will be offering a taste of the Med to hundreds of punters for a day-long celebration of live entertainment, evening meal and outdoor street vendors and Tiki bars.

The ‘first event of its kind’ in the area, the venue decided to host the cultural day following the success of its Caribbean Festival at the pub last year.

The event saw about 400 people attend, with similar numbers expected for the launch of the Mediterranean Festival this year.

In attendance will be soul and jazz artists, Olivia Stevens & Co, DJ Jerry from Portsmouth and outside bars and street food stands selling popular tapas style dishes like paella and halloumi fries and patatas bravas.

During the evening, guests can enjoy a social evening meal with the choice of 15 different tapas dishes, a welcome drink of Sangria and paella costing £19.95 per person.

Jack Liddell, who has owned The Olive Leaf for a year and a half, is ‘excited’ for its launch after opening a new garden area just two months ago.

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He said: ‘Purely we like to do something different. It’s something I haven’t seen done in the area.

‘We did a Caribbean festival last year and because of the popularity of it, we've decided to go Mediterranean.

‘If it works well we'll probably go back to it next year. With us being called The Olive Leaf it links it with that.’

Sticking to an ‘authentic’ menu, Jack says guests can expect Spanish meatballs, Spanish tortillas, marinated anchovies, chorizo in red wine, Manchego cheese croquettes, Greek feta salad and many more dishes.

Cocktails will be inspired by the Mediterranean too, with offerings like Margaritas and Aperol Spritz.

Jack added: ‘We're going to have food on the go. We're going to have paellas, we're going to be doing tapas and all kinds of Med food.

‘We're trying to go as authentic as possible with it. We've already got quite a few bookings.

‘We've been picking up in trade quite a lot this year. We're hoping throughout the day to pick up the same numbers.’

The event opens at 12pm. To book a table call 023 9246 0909.