Food and Drink Festivals
Food and drink festivals are great value for money as you can sample cuisine, watch celebrity chefs and be entertained with live music. Carrie Drage learns more.
The UK is renowned for its regional culinary variations, which are celebrated annually in food and drink festivals up and down the country. Featuring local producers, cookery masterclasses and musical performances, a visit to one of these events makes a diverse day out for your group.
A taste of things to come
Discerning food lovers will find plenty to whet the appetite at one of the UK’s many food and drink festivals.
Some of Britain’s largest food and drink festivals are Channel 4’s Taste Festivals, which are staged at five outdoor venues across the UK; Edinburgh’s The Meadows in May, London’s Regent’s Park and Leeds Millennium Square in June, and Bath’s Royal Victoria Park and Birmingham’s Cannon Hill Park in July. Each festival is focused around the finest local produce with celebrity chefs also on hand to offer helpful food and cookery advice. A free ticket is offered for every seven paying adults.
Equally popular are the BBC Good Food Shows, held every year at three different venues; The NEC Birmingham in June and November, Scotland’s SECC Glasgow in October and the London Olympia in November. New for this year, there will be a Slow Food Pavilion, which will promote the benefits of locally-produced ingredients and regional cooking. Groups of 10 or more receive discounts of up to 15%.
To celebrate the UK’s national Year of Food and Farming, which aims to educate young people about food and where it comes from, Hampshire Food Festival has, this year, been extended to a month-long series of activities in July, instead of its usual fortnight. Taking place at various venues across the county, groups will be able to participate in bread, chocolate and jam-making masterclasses, take tours around a mushroom farm or enjoy cider and apple juice-making demonstrations. Discounts may be negotiable.
Again in July, Bristol Wine and Food Fair will be staged at Bristol harbourside where more than 30 wine producers and 20 cheese producers will gather, offering tastings to visitors. Signature dishes from some of the city’s best restaurants will also be available to sample. Groups receive one free ticket for every 10 paying members.
In Manchester, the team behind the annual Food and Drink Festival, taking place in October, has launched a new event called Summer in the Park. Due to be staged in Platt Fields Park in July, it will combine food, drink and live music from some of Manchester’s top bands. Visitors will also be able to sample ales from the region’s 28 breweries or enjoy a traditional banquet of locally-sourced spit roast and seasonal vegetables. Groups receive one free place for every tenth paying adult.
In Sussex, the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival – taking place in September – will incorporate a Sussex Market, to be pitched on Hove Lawns, which will contrast with the wares of the traditional Continental Market, comprising French, Spanish and Italian produce. Discounts are negotiable on ticketed activities.
At Bristol’s harbourside, the Soil Association Organic Food Festival will again be taking place in September to celebrate all things organic including food, drink, fashion, skincare and homeware products. This year’s new attraction will be a ‘grow your own’ area where visitors will be offered advice about organic gardening.
Based in and around Ludlow Castle, the Ludlow Marches Festival of Food and Drink, in September, sees more than 100 food and drink producers offering their wares for sale. A highlight is the Sausage Trail, which leads visitors round the town’s butcher’s shops to sample new sausage recipes. Discounts will be offered for groups of 15 or more.
Also in September will be the York Festival of Food and Drink, a free event, which will be staged in various locations across the city. A new element this year will be the Evening Fountain Cafe, which will involve a marquee being erected over the Parliament Street fountain offering beer, wine, live music and a selection of hot food.
Berwick Food Festival, in Northumbria, is another event organised for September. The main location will be the Barracks where there will be a Producers’ Market, historical re-enactments and a beer festival; however, another highlight will be the fish market on Quayside featuring cookery demonstrations and tastings. Entry is free. In Wales, some of Britain’s best cheese producers will congregate at Cardiff Castle for The Great British Cheese Festival, also in September. Amongst a display of more than 450 cheeses, groups will also find real ale, perry, cider and wine at the Cardiff Arms market. Alternatively, you can try your hand at cheese tossing or watch cheese being made.
Elsewhere in Wales, groups can attend the 10th anniversary of the Abergavenny Food Festival. Held in the Victorian Market Hall, in September, it will feature an eclectic programme of talks, masterclasses, tutored tastings and demonstrations, as well as more than 150 market stalls from Wales, The Marches and further afield.
A refreshing change
Drinks connoisseurs are also well-catered for with hundreds of beers, whiskies, ales, ciders and perries waiting to be sampled at dedicated events across the UK.
Appealing to the enthusiast and the novice alike, Whisky Live is hosted at two venues in the UK; London’s Royal Horticultural Halls in February and Scotland’s SECC Glasgow in October. At these events, groups will be able to sample some of the world’s rarest and most sought after malts, whilst being entertained by a variety of different bands and musicians. Group discounts are available.
Taking place in August, the Great British Beer Festival, organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), will once again be staged at London’s Earls Court. Resembling a giant pub, the event will be offering more than 750 types of beer for sale, including 450 of the finest British ales. Visitors can also sample beers from across the world, in addition to a great selection of cider and perry. Discounts are offered for groups of 10 or more people.
In the same month, the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) will be hosting The Hop Farm Beer Festival at The Hop Farm at the Kentish Oast Village, in Kent. In addition to more than 30 of the South East’s best breweries competing for prizes in such categories as Best Bitters, the event will feature morris dancing, maypole dancing and country music.