HAMPSHIRE Fare has announced that this year’s festival will be the biggest yet, with a whole summer of events.
The 21st Hampshire Food Festival, organised by local produce promoter Hampshire Fare, will see two new events.
The inaugural Winchester Food Festival will take over Winchester Cathedral’s Outer Close on Sunday, July 9 and Festival Place in Basingstoke will host Celebrate Hampshire for the weekend of July 1.
Hampshire Fare’s commercial manager, Tracy Nash, said: “The Hampshire Food Festival has always been one of the most ambitious in the country in terms of scale and reach. However, this year we have decided to make it an even bigger celebration of food and drink running across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight throughout the summer.
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“People love local. We have seen a growing interest in provenance and an increase in staycation experiences which means that there is a huge hunger out there for food and drink events and experiences.
“The festival’s engaging and exciting programme is just what everyone needs. It’s a must-visit this summer with a great line-up of top chefs, involvement from Hampshire’s buzziest cafes, pubs and restaurants, and a showcase of some of the best food and drink from across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
"This year the Hampshire Food Festival is bigger than ever and packed with new events and great fun entertainment. The festival has become a well-established highlight of the summer calendar and gives everyone, locals and visitors, a delicious opportunity to discover the area’s cities, countryside, market towns and villages through the region’s exceptional abundance of food and drink."
Taking the role of headline sponsor is specialist BBQ outdoor event hub SoCal BBQ Kitchen.
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From July 1 to August 31 there will be more than 230 events from Shakespeare in pub gardens, supper clubs and sausage-making demos to BBQ masterclasses, brewery and vineyard tours, farm open days wild foraging experiences, pop-ups in cherry orchards, and a special tasting menu in an art gallery.
Celebrate Hampshire launches the festival with a two-day event centred around a lively chefs’ kitchen on Saturday, July 1 and Sunday, July 2.
The following weekend, Winchester Food Festival will see a produce market, demos by local chefs and budget-friendly and healthy dishes with nutritionist Mary Needham of Winchester social enterprise, Munch.
A digital version of the Hampshire Food Festival programme is at hampshirefare.co.uk/local-produce/publications.
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