Farmer Eric, an educational character created by The Dairy Council, will be taking centre stage at the CBeebies Big Day Out with The Furchester Hotel.
Throughout the five-day event taking place in Weston-super-Mare, Farmer Eric who will be played by Bristol-based actor George Williams, will carry out a series of storytelling sessions. In a specially written educational adventure story filled with positive nutritional messages on healthy living, Farmer Eric will also teach children about the production of milk and dairy.
In addition to this, Farmer Eric will take part in a session on stage with CBeebies presenter Rebecca Keatley and local dance instructor Lisa Wright. A song to promote Farmer Eric and his storytelling has been specially commissioned by London-based Paul Linn and will be played throughout the day to engage the children and parents.
On top of leading a nutritionally-rich diet, The Dairy Council recognises that it’s important to keep children active too. The Dairy Council will therefore also be hosting a series of ‘Milkshake Zumba’ classes following Farmer Eric’s storytelling sessions at the Big Day Out, providing the children with milk shakers and milkshake recipe cards so they can dance, keep fit, and learn about how great milk is for them in order to be strong and healthy.
Dr Anne Mullen, Director of Nutrition at The Dairy Council, said: “We jumped at the opportunity to be a part of this engaging event. CBeebies is a great partner for The Dairy Council. Not only does it give us a platform to share some of our key messages about nutrition, but by creating the character of Farmer Eric, it allows us to engage with children and parents directly in a fun manner - the very people that will help to shake off some of the common misconceptions surrounding milk and dairy.
“Milk and dairy products contribute significantly to the diets of young children – they are the main sources of nutrients such as calcium, iodine and some B group vitamins that our children need throughout the different stages of their development.
“It has been a great first day, we are really looking forward to seeing all the other children and their parents who will come along and join us over the course of the week - we hope to get them all laughing, moving, dancing and most importantly, learning.”
BBC Learning Executive Producer, Moray London, said: “We’re delighted to be joined by The Dairy Council in Weston-super-Mare and really excited by the great range of activities they have devised for our young audiences. I think their pre-school storytelling character Farmer Eric will be a great hit with the children.”
The CBeebies Big Day Out with The Furchester Hotel is a free event which is taking place at the Beach Lawns, Weston-super-Mare Seafront, from Wednesday 29th July to Sunday 2nd August and will offer young audiences (aimed at six and under) the chance to see some of their favourite CBeebies stars and take part in an array of free activities. Tickets are not required.
