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A round up of the best early summer food festivals around the UK and Ireland Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival , Highlands & Moray, Scotland • Thu 28 April to 2 May 2011 Running from the Monadhliath Mountains, near Aviemore, east to the Moray Firth, Scotland’s River Spey is the country’s main malt whisky artery. Over half of all Scotland’s distilleries are located on and around its riverbanks, the roll call ranging from household names such as the Glenlivet , Macallan and Glenfiddich to the tiny boutique Benromach , in Forres. Now in its 12th year, the Spirit of Speyside is a sprawling, multifaceted celebration of local whisky culture and Speyside’s sweet, complex single malts. Events range from the studious (a detailed three-day whisky school complete with diploma at the Knockando Distillery) to the potentially stupefying ( Glenlivet Hill Trek’s day-long whisky connoisseurs’ tours). Elsewhere, there are art exhibitions, lectures on the history of illegal stills, book signings, farm tours, food ‘n’ whisky matching events, and a busy corresponding programme of gigs and other social events. The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards, in which festival visitors get a vote, and a new tour of Speyside best food producers, such as Walker’s shortbread , are among this year’s highlights. There is also a smaller event, the Autumn Speyside Whisky Festival , held Thu 29 September to 3 Oct 2011. Details? Various prices / venues, Speyside. Eat? Craggan Mill (starters from £6.25, mains from £14. Grantown-on-Spey, Moray, +44 (0)1479 872288), run by chef-owners Sheila McConachie and Graham Harvey, authors of the Whisky Kitchen . Their Nairnshire Abderdeen Angus fillet steak (£22.50) is cooked over staves from old whisky casks. Drink? The Highlander Inn (10 Victoria Street, Craigellachie, Banffshire, +44 (0)1340 881446) , a whisky pub with a famous collection. Also, CAMRA-approved for its real ales. Buy? A rare small batch whisky, such as Benriach’s 12 year-old experimental triple-distilled dram, Horizons (£48.95), from the Whisky Shop (1 Fife Street, Dufftown, +44 (0)1340 821097). Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink , Exeter, Devon • Fri 29 April to 1 May 2011 As that long, rather unwieldy official title suggests, Exeter food and drink festival isn’t some piddling provincial shindig, but a massive annual focal point for the south west’s chefs, producers and foodies. That Michael Caines and Nathan Outlaw, who hold four Michelin stars between them, will be doing a joint demo on the Sunday, is indicative of the event’s pulling power (not to mention its ability to transcend any traditional Devon versus Cornwall rivalry). With 15,000 people attending last year, you might have to be patient as you navigate the food markets, but it’s worth it. From the excellently-named, award-winning Bread of Devon to unpasteurised cheese makers, Wootton Organic Dairy, pretty much every south west producer worth their salt will be here. Elsewhere, chefs Mark Hix, Plymouth’s Tanner brothers, Michelin star, Simon Hulstone, Riverford Organics’ Jane Baxter and Lesley Waters will be educating and entertaining in the festival cookery theatre, where former MasterChef winners including Steve Groves and Dhruv Baker will cook-off in a special competition. There will be further making, baking and cooking instruction offered in the Darts Farm teepees, covering everything from how to use edible flowers to “understanding” West Country cheeses, and what they have to say. Two real ale, English wine and cider bars will oil the wheels of social interaction, while visitors will be able to refuel on hog roast, organic burgers, Exmouth mussels and Bigbury oysters as the festival carries on, into the night, with live music on the Friday and Saturday. On a sunny day, the setting for the festival – Exeter Castle and the adjacent Northernhay Gardens – is pretty special, too. Details? Adults £7, children £1. Exeter Castle courtyard and Northenhay Gardens, Exeter. Eat? At consistently good roadside food pub, Jack in the Green , just outside Exeter (bar menu, starters from £4.95, mains from £9.75. London Road, Rockbeare, +44 (0)1404 822240). The restaurant’s Totally Devon menu is good value at £25 for three-courses. Drink? Local O’Hanlon, Exeter Brewery and Gargoyles’ ales at the Fat Pig (2 John Street, +44 (0)1392 437217). Buy? The festival’s official handmade steak, parsnip and horseradish pie (£3.50), created from Devonian ingredients by award-winning Chagford pie man, Tom Cull . Real Street Food Festival , London • Fri 29 April to 2 May 2011 Literally and metaphorically, London’s street food scene is currently cooking on gas. A new wave of market stalls and “mobilers”, such as vegetarian curry specialists, Gujarati Rasoi , and London’s favourite burger van, the Meatwagon , are delivering some of the sharpest food in the capital, at knockdown prices. This three-day meet will bring together around 20 of the city’s brightest street stars, including Meatwagon, Rasoi and guerrilla gourmets Healthy Yummies , winners at the inaugural 2010 British Street Food Awards (make sure you try their hand-dived scallops with bacon and celeriac); Arabica Food , who create superior shawarma kebab sandwiches using Label Anglais, a famous breed of free-range chickens; and Street Kitchen , a spin-off from Jun Tanaka’s well-regarded modern French restaurant, Pearl. Greenwich’s finest, Meantime Brewery, will provide a little lubrication. Details? Free entry, Southbank Centre, SE1; realfoodfestival.co.uk Foodies Festival , Brighton • Sat 30 April to 2 May 2011 Edinburgh-based Media Company Publications run a network of high-profile Foodies festivals around the UK, each of which has its own distinct local accent. The guest demonstration chefs lined up for their first festival of the season, in Brighton: Sam Metcalfe , Due South’s Michael Bremner, Matt Gillan from the Pass , Neil McCue from the newly Michelin-starred Curlew at Bodiam, Momma Cheri’s Charita Jones and – no, you’re not hallucinating – vegan restaurateur Heather Mills , exemplify the Foodies’ commitment to local talent. In the “masterclass” theatres, assorted experts will lead food and drink tasting sessions, various Brighton restaurants will be selling taster portions of their signature dishes on-site, and a producers’ market will showcase Sussex produce. In a separate retail area, the Guild of Fine Foods will present a selection of the artisan makers who have won one of its Great Taste award in the last three years. There will be further Foodies festivals throughout the year in Cheshire (Tatton Park, May 20 to 22), Hampton Court (May 28 to 30), Bristol (June 24 to 26), London (Battersea Park, July 29 to 31), Edinburgh (Aug 12 to 14), and Oxford (Aug 27 to 29) Details? Adult £10/ £8, children under-16, free. Hove Lawns, Kingsway, Hove. Blossomtime 2011 , Herefordshire • 1 & 2 May 2011 One for the festival connoisseur, this. Held in the seven parishes that comprise Marcle Ridge in Herefordshire, Blossomtime is a celebration of the local apple and pear orchards, and the ciders and perries made therein. As the spring boughs bloom, last autumn’s ciders should be reaching maturity, and, following Saturday’s competitive cider trials for the professionals, visitors will be able to sample the best brews from local and regional makers, such as Gregg’s Pit and Raglan Cider Mill . Afterwards, tour the local orchards with a guide, or explore (maps available) on your own, dropping-in at local farm shops and cafes, such as Roots and Dragon Orchard , or pubs and restaurants like Weston’s Scrumpy House and Woolhope’s Crown Inn , which hosts its own beer and cider festival over the weekend. The itinerary also includes a tour of Pixley Court’s blackcurrant fields, tutored cider tasting, lessons on bee-keeping and, of course, there will be plenty of homemade food available that makes use of the eating apples from the area. Details? Free entry. Tasting, six tokens, £1.50. Putley Village Hall, Putley, off A417, nr. Hereford. Real Food Festival , London • Thu May 5 to 8, 2011 Heavyweight, that is the only word for the Real Food Festival. How else to describe an event which boasts a veritable firmament of Michelin-starred demonstration chefs (Giorgio Locatelli, Jason Atherton, Sat Bains, Fergus Henderson etc.); hands-on butchery lessons from the legendary Allen’s of Mayfair ; a festival debate that will be recorded for Radio 4′s Food Programme, chaired by presenter Sheila Dillon; chef Arthur Potts Dawson’s pop-up eco restaurant, Mrs Paisley’s Lashings; and an indoor living tea garden created by the UK’s only tea growers, Tregothnan . Throw in the presence of 500 – count ‘em! – high-quality food producers, including a dedicated cheese retail and learning centre (did you know the UK now has more artisan cheese makers than France?), and you have one of the biggest and most interesting dates in the British food calendar. One criticism, though. Too often in Britain, real food is prized, less for itself, than as an opportunity for the wealthy to assert their superior status and good taste. By offering VIP tickets (£50 incl priority entry and an opportunity to hang-out in a temporary cocktail bar designed by Jo Wood ) the Real Food Festival is pandering to such dim-witted snobbery. And likely annoying ordinary punters in the process. Details? Adults £20/ £14, children under-16, free. Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, Earl’s Court, Warwick Road, SW5. Eat? You’re in town. It’s just a couple of miles away. Credit card limit notwithstanding, is this is an opportune moment to treat yourself to dinner at, arguably, Britain’s most exciting restaurant, the Ledbury (dinner three courses, £70; 127 Ledbury Road, W11, +44 (0)20 7792 9191)? Drink? If you don’t fancy the Adnam’s festival Boat Bar, jump on the District Line for a couple of stops down to Parson’s Green, where you will find the superb White Horse (1-3 Parson’s Green, SW6, +44 (0)20-7736 2115), a pub which takes its real ales and its huge selection of speciality beers seriously (pint from £2.80). Buy? It’s a tiring business, shopping. Refuel with a pot of something good and filling, perhaps lamb tagine or chicken and chorizo stew (portions £6/ £4), from the self-explanatory Souper Stew , one of several street food stalls at Real Food. Ludlow Spring Festival , Ludlow, Shropshire • 7 & 8 May 2011 Ludlow is home to the original British food festival (in September) and, in conjunction with the Society of Independent Brewers, that hugely popular event now has a little brother. A little brother with a fondness for beer, bangers and, more of an acquired taste this, vintage cars. In the “Festival Pub”, visitors will be able to sample over 150 beers from Wales and the Marches. Drinkers can line their stomachs with food from a huge variety of stalls, including a collaborative hot sausage stand from Ludlow’s outstanding independent butchers, AH Griffiths, Andrew Francis and DH Wall. Elsewhere, you can help judge competing local cafes, pubs and restaurants, on the pâté and puddings trails (£3), watch La Becasse’s Michelin-star chef Will Holland do upmarket things with the basics: bread, beer and sausages, or explore beer and food matching with expert, Melissa Cole. Details? Adults £6, children £2. Ludlow Castle, Castle Street. Crab & Lobster Festival , Cromer and Sheringham, Norfolk • Fri 20 to 22 May 2011 No prizes for guessing what people will be eating at this event on the north Norfolk coast. Hosted by food writer, broadcaster and cookery school tutor, Mary Kemp, a demonstration kitchen will visit both towns over the weekend, bringing with it various local chefs – including Chris Coubrough of the Flying Kiwi inns and ITV’s Coastal Kitchen – expert fishmongers and Cromer and Sheringham’s respective town criers, who will vie for civic pride in their cook-off. A food market, in conjunction with Produced in Norfolk , will showcase the county’s best grub, while Davies Fish Shop (7 Garden Street, Cromer), run by renowned local crab fisherman, John Davies, will provide crab and lobster snacks and tasters, on-site. Elsewhere, many of the local pubs and restaurants will be hosting events and running special menus; you can enjoy a night of sea shanty groups on the Friday, or join in the pier-crabbing competition, a bit of fun which some people take very seriously. Foodies with a keen sense of the seasons may question why this festival takes place in May, when the local crab is at its sweetest in February, but who wants to eat a crab sandwich in the driving rain? Details? Free. Markets and demonstrations in Sheringam Saturday, High Street; Cromer Sunday, Promenade. Burren Slow Food Festival , Lisdoonvarna, Ireland • 20 to 22 May 2011 If you’re looking for a more intimate food festival experience, this event, organised by the County Clare’s Slow Food convivium, may be just the ticket. Held in the village of Lisdoonvarna in the Burren – a wild, beautiful limestone “moonscape” on Ireland’s west coast – it attracts around 3000 visitors each year, with its 50-stall food market (look out for Burren Smokehouse’s salmon and the St Tola handmade organic goat’s cheese), talks, guided walks and cookery demonstrations from local luminaries such as chef-hotelier John Sheedy and Aiden McGrath, chef-owner at the Wild Honey Inn , the first pub in Ireland to hold a Michelin Bib Gourmand. This year’s highlights include Bridgestone guide editor’s John and Sally McKenna and Duncan Stewart, of RTE 1′s Eco Eye TV show, discussing how local food can create local jobs, and, a little more frivolously, a tasting of Burren Brewery’s new craft beers at lively traditional music pub, the Roadside Tavern . Details? Adults €5, children free. Pavilion Hall, Lisdoonvarna, and other venues. Malton Food Lovers Festival , Malton, East Yorkshire • 21 & 22 May 2011 Malton is a town working hard to rebrand itself as a foodie hub. That means making the most of your natural assets (the town’s independent butchers , bakers, delicatessen and real ale pubs , not to mention some great producers in the surrounding countryside) and, where necessary, recruiting. With the local landlord Fitzwilliam Estates offering a £10,000 prize fund, Malton recently held a novel competition to attract a promising young chef to the area. The winner, Daniel Taylor, will be making his local cooking debut at the town’s Food Lovers’ Festival, a two-day event that – given the scale and ambition of those rebranding plans – is now a commensurately big deal. This year, a 100-stall Yorkshire food market, a 40-cask beer festival and such headline names as Tom Parker-Bowles; Tim Bilton and Stephanie Moon, who represent Yorkshire on BBC2′s Great British Menu; and highly-acclaimed local chefs Andrew Pern ) and Michelin-starred James Mackenzie , are expected to attract 10,000 visitors to the town. Details? Free. Market Place and around. Bath Coffee Festival , Bath • 21 & 22 May 2011 Outside London, coffee’s “third wave” still feels like a ripple. The success of Bath’s coffee festival, however, now in its second year, suggests there is a genuine latent desire out there for a deeper, post-Starbucks understanding of this magnificent bean. Don’t worry if you don’t know your arabica from your robusta or the technical differences between a latte and a flat white, the events and tutor sessions will take you from the nursery slopes of coffee onto – in the hands-on academy tent, particularly – the finer points of the barista’s art. Lavazza’s demo theatre will feature latte art sessions and chefs’ exploring coffee’s culinary applications. There will also be opportunities to meet coffee growers from Peru, Mexico, Thailand, Kenya and India, with whom you will be able to explore the variations between different countries’ beans and regional sub-varieties of arabicas. The market, meanwhile, could prove costly for connoisseurs and gadget-freaks alike. From Mypressi’s TWIST , a remarkable handheld espresso-maker (Cream Supplies’ stand), to Sea Island’s seriously rare, single-origin coffees, there will be much to interest even hardcore coffee geeks. Details? Free. Recreation Ground, Johnston Street. Gefiltefest: the Jewish Food Festival , London • 22 May 2011 If the typical British food festival just isn’t doing it for you, intellectually, then Gefiltefest – part symposium, part food festival – may well prick your interest. The day-long programme includes some typical diversions, such as cookery demonstrations, bagel and cheesecake tasting competitions, and the announcement of the inaugural Gefiltefest Food Awards, but it is the socio-cultural lectures: A Brief History of the Aubergine: Sephardi Food, Sephardi Identity; Much Ado About Noshing: Food in Jewish Poetry, even a treatise on food and sex in Jewish cinema, which sound intriguing. “Are kosher restaurants rubbish?” asks a debate chaired by blogger, Anthony Silverman , whose panel includes Good Food Guide editor, Elizabeth Carter. Details? Adults, £25, teenagers, £15, children, £2. London Jewish Cultural Centre , Ivy House, 94-96 North End Road, NW11. Taste of Dublin , Dublin • 9 to 12 June 2011 Like its parent festival, Taste of London, the primary draw at this Dublin event is restaurants. This year, such local luminaries as the one Michelin star Chapter One , Pichet , Dylan , the Saddle Room , Jaipur , Locks Brasserie and – in a new guest regional restaurants section – Paul Flynn’s Tannery and Kilkenny restaurant, Campagne , will be serving scaled-down versions of their signature dishes to a hungry public. Elsewhere, visitors can shop until they drop (or burst) in a huge producers’ market; watch such cooks as Gino D’Acampo, Rachel Allen, Atul Kochhar, legendary chef Derry Clarke and star blogger/ food writer, Donal Skehan demonstrating techniques and recipes; plus explore dedicated Thai and Malaysian food hubs. Details? Adults, entry only, €28.50, children, €14.50. The “florin” tokens that guests use to buy dishes at the restaurant stands must be purchased separately. Iveagh Gardens, entrances off Harcourt Street, via Clonmel Street, and (ticket holders only) Hatch Street Upper. Nigel’s Fantastic Food Show , Blackburn, Lancashire • 11 & 12 June 2011 He might have a Michelin-star, but Blackburn lad Nigel Haworth is still firmly rooted in his locality. His restaurants, Northcote and the Ribble Valley Inns , focus on regional Lancastrian dishes made from seasonal local ingredients, and over the years he has energetically tried to popularise good food in Blackburn. Newly expanded to two days, Nigel’s Fantastic Food Show comprises a huge food market, whose line-up (Dew-Lay, Port of Lancaster Smokehouse , Fitzpatrick’s cordials) includes many of Lancashire’s finest artisans; a new north-west BBQ competition; and numerous opportunities to eat and drink. There will be a Thwaite’s beer tent, a kitchen dishing-up servings of Haworth’s famous hotpot, and a cafe offering an afternoon tea created by Claire Clarke (the acclaimed former pastry chef at California’s French Laundry). In the demo theatre (£6), Great British Menu competitor, Lisa Allen, Simon Rimmer, rising Birmingham star, Aktar Islam (whose Lasan restaurant was The F Word best local restaurant 2010), and Haworth’s fellow northern cheerleader, Paul Heathcote, will be entertaining at the hob. Details? Adults £7.50, children £3.50. Ewood Park, Blackburn Football Club; fantasticfoodshow.com Taste of London , London • 16 to 19 June 2011 Taste of London (ToL) bills itself as, “the world’s greatest restaurant festival”, a bold assertion, but one that – even given the caveats below – it is difficult to argue with. Its ability to persuade some of London’s best chefs (and by definition, some of the most anal men on the planet) to relocate to Regent’s Park for three days, where, in temporary kitchens, their teams cook sample plates of their restaurants’ signature dishes, is remarkable. This year’s line-up is typically impressive: Le Gavroche , Atul Kochhar’s Benares , Gauthier Soho , Corrigan’s Mayfair , Launceston Place , Bocca di Lupo , Fino and Scott’s , among the 37 high-profile restaurants that will be offering their dishes at the event. 150 of the country’s leading food and drink producers will also be selling their wares around the site, while chefs such as Bruno Loubet , Theo Randall and Tom Aikens will be making personal appearance across several stages. On the downside, however, this an expensive event for ordinary foodies, and one that is quickly developing its own deeply unedifying class system. The availability of fast-track VIP tickets is bad enough, but the arrival of a new and “exclusive” separate Secret Garden stage (tickets, £95 / £125), created in partnership with Tatler magazine, is, some might say, a good reason to boycott ToL altogether. Booking Noma’s René Redzepi for a Q&A session is a major coup, but, as he will be hidden away in that Secret Garden, you will have to pay £100 to ask him how he makes his horseradish snow. If you’re daft enough. Redzepi is also making an appearance at a separate ToL food, wine and water-pairing session, on a different stage, one open to ordinary festival goers, but that is hardly the same as being granted an “intimate” audience with the man. Nor is that the real issue. The key point is that more than ever at this year’s ToL, there will be the haves and the have-quite-a-bit-mores. And that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Details? Adult, entry only, £26, children, £14. “Crowns”, the tokens that guests use to buy dishes at the restaurant stands, must be purchased separately. Regent’s Park, entrance Broad Walk, off Outer Circle, nr. Park Square Gardens, NW1. EAT! , Newcastle & Gateshead • 17 to 26 June 2011 Refreshing, irreverent and full of surprises, EAT! has, in its five years, established itself as one of Britain’s most original food festivals. At its best, it makes great imaginative efforts to reach out beyond its core foodie audience. At its worst, its events can sometimes feel like wacky PR stunts. Certainly, it is never dull. This year’s programme is typical. At its core, there is a fairly generic festival. The Big EAT! weekend (Sat 18 &19) will see street food stalls, cookery demos, a north east producers’ tasting market, a satellite Chocolate Festival and a separate Chilli & Beer Festival spring up at venues across Newcastle and Gateshead. However, outside of that, there is a whole programme of activities taking place. These range from serious community projects to hugely eccentric collaborative events. For instance, working with Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, a group of professional chefs and 30 people currently undergoing treatment for mental health issues, EAT! will this year create, Tastes Good, Feels Good, a cookbook that will focus on the physical and emotional benefits of healthy eating. This book of low-cost recipes will then be given away free to future patients. Yet, at the same time, EAT! is also the festival that, with the public’s help, intends to build a series of scale-models of iconic northern buildings, in cake, and which is elsewhere planning a mass eco-picnic in honour of 18th century cookery writer, Hannah Glasse . A scheme meanwhile, which, during EAT!, will enable groups of friends to book local artisans (bakers, butchers, brewers etc.) to teach them in their own homes, is inspired. Details? Various prices / venues. Eat? Take the short train journey from Newcastle central to nearby coastal South Shields, where you will find a local classic, Colman’s (eat-in, meals from £6.95. 182-186 Ocean Road, +44 (0)191 456 1202). Its fish ‘n’ chips are legendary. Drink? The Cluny (36 Lime Street, Ouseburn, +44 (0)191 230 4474) a buzzy bar, gallery and gig venue, with a rotating nine-pump array of real ales, often from local breweries like Hadrian & Border and Wylam. Buy? A sublime chive ‘n’ cheese brioche from the la-di-dah, Cafe Royal (£1.50, 8 Nelson Street, +44 (0)191 231 3000). Food festivals Food & drink Food and drink United Kingdom Ireland Tony Naylor guardian.co.uk