Organisers of the ever-popular Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival say visitors can expect a stellar line-up of chefs, producers, and family-friendly activities, as they begin the countdown to one of the region’s biggest events.
Staged last year only in a limited capacity due to Covid, the Festival will now return on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September, with around 100 food stands and an array of new features never before seen at the Snape Maltings’ based event.
An interactive family area and family stage has now been incorporated into the packed weekend, as has food photography, and wild cooking activities.
Music, masterclasses, a street-food courtyard, family meadow and The Adnams Experience, will also feature.
This year’s event takes a much more ‘alfresco’ feel, with an emphasis on large open spaces, rather than marquees.
Female acclaimed chefs make up a significant proportion of this year’s line-up, with the likes of BBC Masterchef winner, Thomasina Miers OBE, journalist and chef Rhavinder Bhogal, vegetable gardener and cook Anna Greenland, and local favourite and former TV chef, Emma Crowhurst.
Other chefs participating, and delivering workshops and Q&A sessions, include Galton Blackiston, Joe Hurd, Mitch McCulloch, Olia Hercules and Rachel de Thample.
Numerous East Anglian food and drink businesses will be there for the two days, including Aspall, East of England Co-op, Niche Cocktails, Munchy Seeds, Pump Street Chocolate, Stokes Sauces, Tiptree, Two Magpies Bakery, The Wild Meat Company, and Valley Farm Vineyards.
As has previously been the case for the festival, a number of so-called ‘Fringe Events’ will also take place around the county in the days either side of the main weekend. A full schedule is soon to be made available on the event website.
Jess Brown, Festival Organiser, said: “Everyone involved in the Festival is so delighted that we can now welcome people back to Snape Maltings for a fuller and more ‘normal’ experience than the reduced one we were able to run last year in light of Covid.
“We’ve spent the last year thinking really hard about what could make the event? bigger and better, but also how we could it ensure it would feel wholly safe and welcoming to those only now getting back to large attendance events for the first time.”
She added: “The emphasis this year is really on being outside, being family-friendly, and telling the ‘full story’ around food, with discussions and activities related to food photography, technology, sustainability – and of course, lots of delicious things to try and buy.”
Tickets for Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival cost £10, with children under 15 going free. They can be purchased via the festival website at https://aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk/.
A shuttle bus will be running between Aldeburgh and the festival setting, and parking is free on-site.
For information about all that’s happening throughout the Festival weekend, go to https://aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk/