The Team
Lotte Duncan – Patron, Director and Event Organiser
Lotte first got involved with Thame Food Festival in 2010 and was asked to come on board as Patron the following year.
Lotte is a Director and event co-ordinator and runs the festival with Jon Hackett.
She passionately believes in the strong ethos of the Festival – to celebrate British produce, support artisan producers and inform visitors from far and wide – all in the beautiful fields surrounding the market town of Thame.
Her love of Artisan British food knows no bounds and when something new hits the table in one of the TFF stall holder tastings, she gets VERY excited!
Outside of the festival Lotte is a Chef, broadcaster, presenter and food writer.
Recognised as a leading authority on English cooking, she brings thirty years of food experience to her television presenting with a light, friendly and humorous touch.
Jon Hackett – Event Organiser
With over 15 years working in advertising at Ogilvy, where he headed up the TV Facilities and Production Department, Jon turned freelance cameraman specialising in shooting food. He has spent the last three years filming Thame Food Festival.
He now runs the Festival with Lotte Duncan covering all aspects, particularly the infrastructure.
Happily, he’s also part of the team sampling all the new products from potential stall holders and sits on the new Artisan Food Producer Bursary committee.
His love of food and cooking drives his everyday life, with a good understanding of what makes a product taste delicious. He is also a judge for the Great Taste Awards – run by the Guild of Fine Food.
Jo Horne – Director
Jo joined as a Director of the Thame Food Festival in 2015. She brings many connections to the group through an extensive network of contacts; helping to pull together certain elements that make the Thame Food Festival so unique.
Jo is brilliant at stall set up logistics and will be on site once again this year.
She also heads up the Foodie Force – our wonderful team of local volunteers who are instrumental in making the festival work.
As a local business owner, she sees supporting the Festival and the other Directors as an absolute pleasure as it promotes Thame regionally and beyond.
Julian Foster – Director
Julian is a graphic designer who runs a communications company calledRed Letter, from Thame town centre. He has extensive experience in advertising, design and more recently, publishing.
Red Letter publishes Thame Out, a local lifestyle magazine, and Cuizine, a food and drink magazine for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Julian was delighted to be invited to become a Director of the Thame Food Festival and have the pleasure of meeting so many talented artisan food and drink producers.
Julian will be designing and writing our visitor programme and other communications leading up to the event in September.
