Former Miss England Georgia Jones joins Belvoir Farm in Bottesford to celebrate 40 years of elderflower harvest festival

A former Miss England is helping a soft drinks maker to celebrate 40 years of its annual festival.

The 40th elderflower harvest festival, organised by Belvoir Farm in Bottesford, takes place on Wednesday, June 5, where TV personality Georgia Jones will be hosting a VIP and community 80s themed vintage tea party in the elderflower fields.

Georgia will also be helping and encouraging others to take part in the Pick Your Own Calendar, where people can pick flowers in return for cash before they are sent away to make the cordial.

“I’m a country girl at heart and a big fan of Belvoir Farm, so I’m really excited to be involved in this wonderful event,” said Georgia, who is also married to McFly frontman Danny Jones.

She added: “It’s going to be great to experience the whole process, from picking the flowers to seeing them transformed into delicious cordial.

“I think what makes it really special is that, to this day, the local community is involved in its creation. It really is the perfect taste of the British countryside.”

“The tea party dress code will be vintage floral to celebrate 40 years and I can’t wait for everyone to get dressed up in their floral finest to come and enjoy a fabulous elderflower tea party in the fields.”

Belvoir Farm was founded in 1984 when director Pev Manner’s mother Mary created an elderflower cordial in her home kitchen.

Since then, the company has grown and the cordial has become one of the nation’s favourite drinks.

Pev said: “This is a landmark year for our business and elderflower harvest, and I’m incredibly proud of our team and what we’ve achieved.

“We’ve always chosen to make our drinks the proper way, not the easy way, and we get an incredible response from the community, with some of our original elderflower pickers from the early years still coming back to get involved.

“Whether you’re a seasoned or first-time picker, we’d love to welcome you to the farm to experience this special occasion.”

The elderflower harvest has a four-week blooming season each year when the flowers are at their best.

This runs from the end of May until the end of June.

Picking takes place on Belvoir Farm’s 60 acre land where pickers can pick and drop-off the flowers to weighing stations.

Pickers are paid £3.50 per kilo once the elderflowers are weighed and verified.