No matter whether it’s hot and sunny, or overcast and breezy, Summer days naturally lend themselves to alfresco dining – and the chance to sample local food and drink at any number of food and drink festivals. Here’s a selection of the best around the country, which you can get your teeth into…
A taste of the sea…in ‘The Lobster Capital of Europe’
Bridlington Seafood Festival 2019
South Marine Drive, Bridlington
15-16 June 2019
Mention the East Yorkshire coast, and you might think family fun resorts and thriving seabird colonies – but Bridlington is also the lobster capital of Europe, landing more of the shellfish than anywhere else. Locally caught lobster and crab will be showcased when the Bridlington Seafood Festival – last held in 2016 – returns. As well as cookery demonstrations, with a whole host of local chefs cooking local seafood produce, there will also be a range of other food stalls selling everything from hog roasts to paella, while visitors will also be able to buy locally produced artwork. It will also be a weekend of children’s activities and entertainment besides South Beach, featuring face-painting, stilt walkers and music, including from the Filey Fishermen’s Choir.
Yum! Festival of Food & Drink
The Rose Bowl & Queen’s Gardens, Hull
9th & 10th August 2019
Free entry
Two days of tasty street food, fresh local produce, and delicious beverages. Come and see what’s on the menu at Hull city centre’s celebration of food and drink – from traditional dishes to worldwide culinary creations. Boasting the The Yum! Emporium – filled with the best locally-sourced produce the region has to offer – there are also street food, world flavour as well as free children’s entertainment ranging from face painting to cupcake decorating and healthy cookery classes.
Hull Street Food Nights
4 July, 8 August, 5 September 2019
Free entry
Think Covent Garden meets Marrakech. Offering a showcase for the city’s rapidly growing local food scene, the award-winning Hull Street Food Nights, funded and organised by HullBID, see food, drink and music combining in a night-time street festival featuring scores of stalls. Held on one Thursday each month until September, around 30 high-quality local food vendors and a host of bars create a night-time piazza with deckchairs, bistro tables and chairs, all decorated with strings of lights. There is plenty of entertainment too, ranging from a DJ and live music to street artists.
Fine food treat at England’s greatest Elizabethan house
Burghley Fine Food Market
Stamford
24–26 Aug 2019
Free entry
Stately food will be on offer during the summer Burghley Fine Food Market staged against the backdrop of one of England’s grandest Elizabethan houses. The cobbled Courtyard at Burghley, on the edge of the Georgian stone town of Stamford, provides the setting for a celebration of local produce, including handmade cheeses, organic vegetables, luxury sweet treats and rare breed meats. The House and gardens will also be open as usual (admission charged), with self-guided tours of the magnificent staterooms and huge collection of works of art in the House, which has been the home of the Cecil family for over 400 years.
Elvaston Castle Food & Drink Festival 2019
Elvaston Castle Country Park near Derby
20-21 July 2019
Free entry
Back for it’s third year and this time it’s bringing the bubbles! Taste award winning food and drink in one of Derbyshire’s most beautiful places, with over 100 pop up shops selling food, drink and lots of quirky little numbers that you won’t see anywhere else. Enjoy live music all weekend and who can resist the annual Man v Cake competition… with the coveted Bruce Bogtrotter trophy – named in honour of the cake-eating boy in Matilda – for the winners!
Lichfield Food Festival
24-26 August 2019
Free entry
From Prosecco to Pies, Tipples to Truffles, Chutneys to Charcuterie and Towering Burgers to Traybakes, visitors to the Cathedral heritage city of Lichfield this August Bank Holiday will be in foodie heaven. Now in its 8th year, the award-winning festival is set to be the biggest yet, stretching over three days and showcasing over 320 specialist artisan food and drink traders. This year’s cookery theatre, on the lawns of Lichfield Cathedral, also promises appearances from some Great British Bake Off bakers too.
Lymington Seafood Festival
Lymington
10-11 August 2019
Free entry
www.lymingtonseafoodfestival.co.uk
Two days of fishy fun, delicious food and drink stalls from local artisan producers. With demonstration kitchens to feed your culinary curiosity, plus a live music stage to keep the party going, some great bands bring soul, jazz, blues, ska and a load of classic sunshine tracks. The New Forest is blessed with some of finest artisan producers and eateries in the country and the Lymington Seafood Festival offers some of the best. With around 90 food and drink stalls, all offering something a little different you can ‘graze’ your way around, sampling lots of little fishy delights. All set with stunning view across the Solent.
‘Fizz Fest’
Vineyards of Hampshire Wine Festival
Exton
Sun, 21 July 2019
Discounted early bird tickets £15 per person or £20 on the gate
www.vineyardsofhampshire.co.uk/events
Fancy tasting some of the best English wine and discovering why Hampshire is a vintage destination for top quality sparkling wine? Staged every summer, Fizz Fest is hosted by a different member of the Vineyards of Hampshire group and this year, for the first time, it will be Exton Park Vineyard. Along with wine tasting, enjoy the Fizz Bar – where you can buy all wines chilled by the glass – meet the winemakers, book wine workshops or go on a tractor ride and view the stunning 55-acre vineyard just up the hill at Exton Park.
The Isle of Wight Garlic Festival
17-18 August 2019
Day and weekend tickets available, from £12.50 per adult, £7.50 child
Set against a beautiful backdrop of rolling green hills and farmland, the Garlic Festival, located just outside of Newchurch, is the Island’s biggest summer show playing host to star chefs, live music, children’s activities… and lots of garlic, At the heart of the festival is, of course, Britain’s most loved and pungent bulb, garlic, grown on the Isle of Wight by the multi award-winning Garlic Farm, near Newchurch village. Every August since 1983, the Island has hosted this annual festival treat offering a celebration of all things garlic and the chance to tuck into some tasty treats – including garlic beer, garlic ice cream, and garlic scones!