Brighton Food Festival
Excitement is mounting for what promises to be the biggest Easter weekend of food and drink that Sussex has ever seen.
The Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival ‘Spring Harvest’ will be returning to the heart of the city for the first of its two annual celebrations of good, local produce.
The main anchor events will run on Good Friday 29 March and Easter Saturday 30 March, with even more events on Easter Monday 1 April. All of the festival’s anchor events are completely free-of-charge so everyone can enjoy the foodie fun.
The Big Sussex Market will be the largest ever hosted in the city, with around 120 local growers, producers and restaurateurs on hand in New Road, Jubilee Street and Victoria Gardens. For the first time ever, many will be offering £1 taster portions of their produce so visitors can try lots of new food experiences before they choose what to buy to eat at the festival or take home to prepare later. Discover the Origin will also be on-hand in Jubilee Square to showcase unique food and drink from protected regions of Europe including Burgundy and Douro Valley wines, Port and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and Parma ham.
The free Children’s Food Festival in Victoria Gardens has also grown in size and will see two activities from festival sponsor PHS Wastetech including a ‘recycling challenge’ inflatable obstacle course, and the chance to find out more about food waste and plant your own sunflower seed to take home. Wagamama will be on hand with the ever popular Food Bravery activities, giving children the chance to touch and taste unusual foods, and prepare their own noodle dish. Alongside this they’ll be lots more fun including smoothie bikes, free hands-on making workshops, Punch and Judy, and lots more to keep hungry little foodies entertained.
Also in Victoria Gardens, you’ll find the free entry Live Food Show featuring top chefs from across the region including Andrew MacKenzie of Drakes, Alan White of the new GB1 restaurant at The Grand hotel, Rob Carr of Hotel du Vin and Jeremy Ashpool of Jeremy’s in Borde Hill. Hosted by Andrew Kay, the stage is again supported by Discover the Origin who will be giving our chefs a Five Minute Challenge to produce a dish using produce from protected designation of origin regions in Portugal, France and Italy. The Live Food Show stage will also feature the finals of the Brighton Bake Off and the Great Brighton Ice Cream competitions, the climax of the Brighton Mini Mix-Off cocktail competition and also – for the first time ever – the Extreme Food Challenge which will see 10 members of the audience taste some of the world’s most unusual food and drink. It’s not to be missed!
Easter Monday see’s the festival team return to the heart of the city with the Children’s Easter Egg Hunt in Royal Pavilion Gardens to support Rockinghorse. For a £3 donation, children will follow the trail, complete simple challenges, and be awarded yummy chocolate eggs courtesy of event sponsor PHS Wastetech. After the Easter Egg Hunt, pick up a map and explore some of the best restaurants in North Laine and The Lanes on the festival’s Brighton Food Trail. For holders of the map – available in the free festival brochure or to download from the festival website – ten eateries will be offering complimentary menu tasters. A rare opportunity to taste the best of Brighton for free!
Monday also sees the return of the Brighton Fish Festival to Bartholomew Square. You’ll be able to find out all about the fish and seafood to be found in the seas off Sussex, discover how to prepare fresh fish and simple meals in the live food marquee, and also see why sustainability is the dish of the day in Brighton & Hove. With lots to eat, drink and entertain this is the perfect way to finish off your Easter weekend.
Churchill Square will also be hosting the Live Food Kitchen on Wednesday 3 April, featuring demos by local restaurateurs including the always-amusing Carlo from AguaDulce, and Sabai Thai Gastrobar, alongside the team from Lakeland.
The festival is also hosting several ticketed evening events including Bitter & Twisted which challenges 10 local beer and cider makers to convince the audience that there’s is the best brew on offer. Tickets include all the drinks and a pub grub feast from the kitchens of Pub du Vin. Dr Belinda Kemp will also be on hand on Easter Monday for Supertasters: the Science of Wine – a fun, one-off event at myhotel to get under the skin of grapes and wine-making.
There’s also big news that the festival team will be hosting a new major monthly Brighton Farmers Market every third Saturday of the month, giving locals the chance to buy directly from around 30 Sussex growers and producers. Launching on Saturday 20 April, this monthly event will be located in a disused bus lane alongside the War Memorial on Old Steine, just moments walk from North Street and St James Street.
Now entering its 11th year, the Brighton & Hove Food and Drink Festival is a twice yearly celebration of great local produce. The festival promoted over 350 businesses and organisations in 2012, and attracted well in excess of 160,000 to the wide range of events and activities hosted in April and September. In line with the festival’s social objectives, all of the anchor events are free entry to allow everyone to enjoy good, local food and drink.
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