Coronation special Houghton Feast ox roast will be fit for a king, thanks to generous firm

This year's traditional ox roast at the Houghton Feast will be fit for a king, thanks to a donation by a firm operating in Wearside.

The countdown to the annual festivities, which take place each October, is already well under way.

This year, to celebrate the reign of King Charles III, the festival will be a Coronation special Houghton Feast.

And to help mark the occasion, training and recruitment firm StaffPower Group has made a £2,000 donation to The Houghton Feast Trust, enabling more hot beef sandwiches from the ox roasting to be donated to local food banks than ever before.

 Ox roasting co-ordinator Paul Lanagan, said:“The Houghton Feast Trust became responsible for the Houghton Feast ox roasting in 2020 and had to make changes to ensure the event was attractive to a modern audience, including accepting card payments and online pre-orders. 

"As the event evolved over the last few years we wanted to go back to its roots which were about feeding hungry people. 

"The ox roasting has its origins in the 16th century when the local Rector, Rev’d Bernard Gilpin, would roast a whole beast to feed his parishioners every weekend from Houghton Feast until Easter. 

"Thanks to StaffPower Group’s donation we are now working with several local food banks, ensuring that those who are having a particularly hard time during the Cost of Living Crisis can take part like everybody else in enjoying a traditional beef sandwich at Houghton Feast.”

Anthony Hudson, managing director of StaffPower Group, said: “We are proud to support The Houghton Feast Trust, not only in their efforts to keep this ancient tradition going, but also their aims to return the Houghton Feast ox roasting to its charitable origins.”

The whole ox will be cooked overnight at the Houghton ‘Coronation’ Feast in October 2023.  The first ceremonial slice of beef will be carved by the Mayor of Sunderland and sandwiches will go on sale to the public from 1pm on Saturday, October 7.

 Sandwiches can be purchased using cash or card on the day, but can now be pre-ordered online from www.oxsarnies.com

 About Houghton Feast

The festival of Houghton Feast is over 800 years old and is held every October in Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland. 

The ten-day event consists of a fairground, fireworks, community events, dance, music, whole ox roasting, carnival parade, church services and heritage displays. 

Thousands of visitors from across the north-east attend every year.

 About the Houghton Feast Trust

The Houghton Feast Trust was established in 2017 by several members of the Houghton community. 

All stalwarts from Houghton Feast and having given decades of community service to the festival, the Trustees came together to help ensure the ancient Houghton Feast continues for generations to come. 

The Trust has enhanced the event offer with comic book conventions, exhibitions and a singing contest for young people.  The Trust is now responsible for the Houghton Feast whole ox roasting.

A 'beef history' of the ox roast

The ox roasting at Houghton Feast has its origins with Rev’d Bernard Gilpin, known as the ‘Father of the Poor’ and the ‘Apostle of the North’. 

Gilpin would roast an ox every weekend from Houghton Feast until Easter, to ensure the poor of the parish were fed. 

The Rotary Club revived the ox roasting tradition at Houghton Feast in 1967 and continued the practice every year until they retired in 2019 after many years of service. 

The Houghton Feast Trust agreed to continue the practice of roasting an ox, as Houghton Feast would not be the same without the traditional hot beef sandwich.

StaffPower Group

StaffPower Group is a recruitment and training organisation with offices in the North East, including Sunderland and Newcastle.

StaffPower Group offers a range of sector-specific services from temporary, temp to perm, contract, and permanent recruitment as well as a wide range of world-class training packages that support an individual or an organisation’s training and development needs.