This years Festival of Food and Drink at Clumber Park proved to be bigger and better than ever.
The tasty weekend of food, drink and fun welcomed food lovers on 20th – 21st September had things to see and do for all the family with Exhibitors from around the UK and Europe. We were early to arrive on the Sunday and so had a great opportunity to take a look around the exhibitors marque, trying samples of a variety of scrumptious offerings.
We came home with delicious fruit cider, fresh sour dough, local pork sausages and Friday Beer to name a few. There was something for everyone including the Yorkshire Hotdog Company, Romanos Coffee, Coriander Garden, Spice N Tice, Swift Bakery, The Tea Experience, Pinkster Gin, Cracking Cookies, Mistry & Co, Routemaster Bus Bar, Snowdonia Cheese, The Falafel Wagon, The Friday Beer Company, The Duck Truck…making this an excellent opportunity to meet the producers behind the brands.
Competitions included a Bake Off having gathered the regions’ best bakers of all ages to see who could be the next Paul Hollywood or Mary Berry by making stunning cakes, loaves and Cupcakes in order to win the title of Clumber Best Baker and some fantastic prizes.
There was a free Cookery Theatre sponsored by Burton Sous Vide on both days, with a host of ‘Make and Taste’ classes for all ages. Headlining were two of the ‘This Morning’ well known chefs, Phil Vickery and Marcus Bean. Both who showcased their culinary skills with recipes and tips alongside celebrity chefs Jackie Kearney, Cat Dresser and Mark Lloyd.
Book signings also took place over the weekend with Phil Vickery, Edd Kimber, Marcus Bean and Cat Dresser.
Delicious food and drink was available in the in the catering area from the likes of Jackie Kearney’s The Hungry Gecko, Woodhouse Farm Hog Roast, The Duck Truck, Exotic burgers, Pie and Mash, Hot Rocks Pizza, The Falafel Wagon, Yorkshire Hot Dog Co and many more including Choccy Churros & Crepes (which I just had to have having been refused Churros only a week earlier in Seville because it was ‘too late in the day! They clearly don’t realise how much us Brits love chocolate)
Outside Exhibitors included the School of Artisan Food; a world-class, not for profit organisation dedicated to teaching skills in artisan food production who offered taster sessions in Pizza Making, Butter making, Ice Cream plus Butchery Sessions for adults. Other exhibitors included Toppings Pies, Movenpicks, Quality Hampers, Old Original Bakewell Pudding Co Ltd and many many more.
Tickets started from £6 for adults with NottinghamLIVE securing a 20% discount on ticket prices to the festival when purchased in advance, as well as free car parking for readers of NottinghamLive.
The bad news is we have to wait until next year for the next one but you can sign up for the Festival of Food and Drink Newsletter by visiting their website www.FestivalOfFoodAndDrink.co.uk to be kept informed of all the latest show news as it happens and to receive exclusive announcements, special offers, fantastic competitions and mouthwatering recipes.
By Tanya Raybould
