Salisbury Food And Drink Festival

2015 Festival

Salisbury Food & Drink Festival 2015 promises to be a weekend full of fun, food and family activities that will have you chomping at the bit for more. The annual festival brings together the community with a shared love of food to explore new tastes, trial new recipes and share skills and knowledge, all in order to enrich our dinner tables.

With delightful events throughout the festival weekend including a hedgerow herb walk with Rachel Heathcote at the River Bourne community farm, events in association with Neal’s Yard Remedies and cookery workshops for adults and children hosted by Waitrose, be sure to pick up a brochure or visit our website to find out more. You can also join us for a foodie film screening of The Hundred-Foot Journey at 7.30pm on Saturday 12 September at Salisbury Arts Centre. The 2014 family comedy starring Helen Mirren is a screen adaptation of Richard C Morais’s novel which follows the Kadam family as they move from India to France and open up a restaurant directly opposite to Madame Mallory’s Michelin-starred eatery.

This weekend of food fun culminates on Sunday 13 September with the Food & Drink Festival Market day. The Market Square will be covered with over 80 market stalls offering a delectable selection of local and regional produce for you to choose from, including preserves, luxury cheeses and cold meats, local ice cream, tempting treats and artisan coffee as well as glorious foods from around the globe for you indulge in.

There will be professional chef demonstrations throughout the day from the infamous Jeff the Chef, the Rose & Crown’s very own Chef Toby and the Great British Bake Off finalist Christine Wallace; Street theatre performances from the hilarious Fairly Famous Family and music from the Salisbury Arts Centre and SAYM Young Jazz; as well as a teddy bear’s picnic treasure hunt; creative workshops from Scrapstore and lots more fun and games for all the family.

Salisbury Food & Drink Festival 2015 is organised by Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival in association with Salisbury City Council.

2014 Festival

The Festival celebrated some of the region’s finest food and drink  and concluded with the ever-popular Market Day with more stalls than ever before. There was something for everyone: fun with food for the children, live music and a beer tent. Professional Cookery Demonstrations were given by Christine Wallace (Great British Bake Off – Finalist 2013), Jeff the Chef, Monica Price, John Tobin and Peter Vaughan in the Market Place and Guildhall Square and Time for Tea by Wet Picnic was a street theatre success with crowds entertained by their unique tea-making technique.

The Cosy Club had a Cocktail Hour with River Cottage’s John Wright – a foraging expert but  John also knows his booze. He taught  how to make seasonal infusions, from smoked sloe gin to sweet vernal grass vodka and gorse flower rum.

John also took intrepid foragers on a walk around River Bourne Community Farm to discover what wild foods can be gleaned from the countryside. He gave hints and tips about how to use wild foods in cooking and tasty treats were available to try in the Farm Shop at the end of the walk.

Preserving expert Thane Prince, from BBC2’s The Big Allotment Challenge, shared her knowledge of creating impeccable preserves at Fisherton Mill, a renowned contemporary art gallery and much-loved café.

In partnership with the Festival, Salisbury Arts Centre hosted the foodie film Chef (2014) starring Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Dustin Hoffman, in which a chef’s passion for food is reignited when he leaves his job in a prominent LA restaurant and sets up a ramshackle taco truck. An irresistible, feel good delight.

2013 festival

Salisbury Food & Drink Festival offered a fantastic week of foodie events, family fun and gourmet produce, in and around the historic city. Opening with the annual Food & Drink Market Day, local and regional stalls  filled the Market Place and spread into the Guildhall with fresh, local foods and locally made drinks. Kids were let loose at the creative cooking workshop at Dinghams Cookshop and professional cookery demonstrations and mini-chef cooking sessions took place in the Guildhall. Beers and wines were enjoyed in the Market Place and  tea and coffee in the Court Court Café inside the Guildhall.

City eateries offered Festival Feasts for the duration of the Food & Drink Festival, providing festival-goers with the chance to indulge in everything from a breakfast patisserie to a delicious restaurant meal.

Neal’s Yard arranged various food events to help people live a natural, sustainable and organic lifestyle, including a herb walk to the water meadows and tips about making medicinal home remedies and tasty cordials. River Cottage’s John Wright took a group on a wild food foraging walk around the River Bourne Community Farm and local hen expert, Charlotte Fyfe, gave a fascinating talk about keeping hens in the garden, which was informative for all.

More about the festival can be found at www.salisburyfestival.co.uk