August 2019
A Taste of Donegal 2019, Ireland
Billed as the biggest food festival in North West Ireland, A Taste of Donegal will feature more than 130 food exhibitors from across Ireland and the UK, as well as beer and wine tasting, live music and a spectacular fireworks display over beautiful Donegal Bay, this August. Now in its 11th year, the festival has grown from humble beginnings to become a mainstay of the food festival circuit, blessed with its backdrop of the Blue Stack Mountains and with the…
Find out more »Notting Hill Carnival, London 2019
The iconic Notting Hill Carnival returns bigger and better this year over the August bank holiday weekend as usual. Starting with the Panorama event on the Friday, Saturday is family day, and the main parade brings the carnival to a grand climax on August Bank Holiday Monday. The Notting Hill Carnival is Europe’s largest free street festival and a culinary spectacular. As one of the best things to do in London in August it is a vital date in the diary…
Find out more »Brussels Beer Festival: BXL Beer Fest 2019
At the Brussels beer festival “BXL Beer Fest”, over 60 independent brewers from a dozen countries show off their artisanal beers. With strictly no room for industrial products at the two-day festival in August, this is where quality and high standard beers flow to you straight from the brewers. With the emergence of craft beers over the past decade, perhaps it’s surprising that the Belgian capital and beer city of Brussels did not have a specific international craft beer festival…
Find out more »Meatopia 2019, London, and Meatopia Dublin
Meat lovers should head to London’s Tobacco Dock from 30 August to 1 September for Meatopia, the celebration of sustainable, quality meat, alternatively take the trip to Dublin for the Guinness X Meatopia in July. Founded by Josh Ozersky in the States, Meatopia was brought to the UK by Richard H Turner. Now turned seven, the festival uses ethically-sourced meat, cooked over ethically-sourced wood and charcoal by top chefs. If you wish to read its manifesto, you will find it…
Find out more »Waddesdon Manor Chilli Fest 2019, Buckinghamshire
The Waddesdon Manor Chilli Fest promises to be the hottest event of the summer. The manor house built for the Baron de Rothschild in the 1870s to entertain guests and exhibit his works of art, will be turned into a chilli festival for one weekend in late August. Some of the country's most loved independent suppliers will descend upon the 19th Century manor house for a weekend of spicy feasting with artisan producers, live music, and fun for the family,…
Find out more »Taste of Sonoma 2019, California
Sonoma County is one of California’s finest wine regions. Noted for the quality of its wines, especially chardonnay and pinot noir, and a 45-minute from San Francisco, the region has 425 wineries, from small family-run places to large household names. Many of these appear at the Taste of Sonoma held at the end of August each year. What is described by the local tourism department as “the wine event of the year”, the Taste of Sonoma features some of the…
Find out more »September 2019
Onam Festival 2019, Kerala, India
During the days of the Onam Festival, the biggest and most spectacular festival of Kerala, the entire Indian state goes on a spree of celebrations, music and dance performances, elaborate banquets, flower carpets, rowing competitions, and many other happenings. Usually taking place during August – September, this ancient Hindu event is also called the Festival of Harvest when nature is in full bloom and festivities are in the air everywhere. The Onam Festival is the most significant harvest festival…
Find out more »Food Rocks 2019, Lyme Regis, Dorset
The Dorset town of Lyme Regis, immortalised in John Fowles’ novel The French Lieutenant’s Woman, will once more be the setting for the seventh Food Rocks this September. Spread over two days, the food fest curated by famed restaurateur-cum-chef, Mark Hix, who hails from the town, unites the best of the worlds of food and drink, with local producers mingling with top chefs. This year, Hix will be joined in Lyme Regis by other leading chefs, Angela Hartnett, Mitch Tonks…
Find out more »Ludlow Food Festival 2019, Shropshire, UK
Now a veteran of the UK food festival circuit, the first Ludlow Food Festival was held in 1995 when members of the local Chamber of Trade and Commerce decided a food festival would be a great way to promote local producers, and draw visitors to the market town on the Welsh borders. Part of the festival's enduring success is no doubt down to its most wonderful location, set in Castle Square with its open air market and the incomparable Ludlow…
Find out more »The Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival
Now into its third year, the Yorkshire Dales Cheese Festival held in September is a celebration of Yorkshire cheese and its recent revival. This year two artisan cheese producers will launch new cheeses at the festival. Long Churn Cheese will allow attendees to have a first tasting of its soft, ewe milk cheese, and The Home Farmer will be passing around its take on Wensleydale cheese. Blessed are the Cheesemakers Yorkshire's tradition of cheesemaking stretches back to the 11th Century…
Find out more »Abergavenny Food Festival 2019, Wales
This September will see the 21st edition of the Abergavenny Food Festival. Created in 1999 by a couple of local farmers the Festival has grown from just 3,000 visitors to become the biggest food festival in Wales, showcasing the very best food and drink in the Principality as well as the world. Some 37,000 people attended in 2018. Its programme of activities includes masterclasses, product tastings, hands-on cookery lessons and kids’ activities. The Abergavenny Food Festival has drawn food heavyweights,…
Find out more »Mothman Festival 2019, West Virginia, USA
During the third weekend of September, the annual Mothman Festival attracts thousands of revellers to celebrate the Mothman mysteries with two days of music concerts, artists, guest speakers, a charity run, fun exhibits and more, while food vendors offer their Mothman-inspired delicacies all over town. Point Pleasant, a little town in West Virginia, is most famous for its perceived 1966-67 sightings of a giant, flying moth-like humanoid. After the deadly collapse in December 1967 of the Silver Bridge, which connected…
Find out more »Phuket Vegetarian Festival 2019
Thailand is certainly no stranger to everything that’s quirky and out of the ordinary. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival held in autumn – also known under its more Taoist-inspired name Nine Emperor Gods Festival – is no exception. It’s considered as the number one auspicious event on the southern Thai island of Phuket, and may as well be one of the country’s most eccentric and extreme festivals. What is the Phuket Vegetarian Festival? If you’re a vegetarian who’s averse to blood…
Find out more »October 2019
Onion Market 2019, Weimar Germany
Dubbed the Teutonic Glastonbury by the Telegraph, the Weimar Onion Market, takes place each October in the architecturally stunning medieval city in Thuringia, Germany. Some 350,000 people are reckoned to descend upon this city of 65,000 residents during the festival, which coincides with the Weimar Beer Festival adding to the festivities. History of the Weimar Onion Market The festival dates back to 1653. In that year it was decreed that, during the second week of October, a large market should…
Find out more »Lincoln Sausage Festival 2019
October is the month that the merry folk of Lincoln tuck into more than 30,000 bangers at the Lincoln Sausage Festival, held in the glorious setting of the medieval Lincoln Castle and its cobbled streets. In 2019 the festival is to be celebrated on 12 October. A myriad of stalls fill the castle's grounds and the nearby Castle Square. Entry is free for children and costs only £1 for adults. In addition to prime Lincolnshire produce from award-winning Select Lincolnshire members,…
Find out more »Barbados Food and Rum Festival, Bridgetown, 2019
One of the delights of spending time in the Caribbean is the chance to sample some excellent rums. The Barbados Food and Rum Festival provides an excellent opportunity to discover Barbados rum while enjoying the best in Caribbean cuisine. Barbados is increasingly seeking to promote itself as a foodie experience. This year, the 10th anniversary of this event, features celebrity UK chef Tom Aikens, who by the age of only 26 has been awarded two Michelin stars and made many…
Find out more »November 2019
Brussels Christmas Market 2019-2020
The Brussels Christmas Market is no doubt one of the best in Europe for food and atmosphere. Winter Wonders – as the market is dubbed – runs over two kilometres through the Belgian capital’s historic town centre. Think cobbled streets and medieval market squares home to snow-dusted market stalls, cosy brasseries, lively pop-up cafés and bars. A covered ice-skating rink, an illuminated Ferris wheel, merry-go-rounds, brass bands, free performances, ice sculptures, a fun Christmas parade and a magical light and…
Find out more »December 2019
Wonderfruit Festival 2019,Thailand
Within just a few years, the Wonderfruit Festival has risen to become one of the most anticipated festivals in Thailand blending music and gastronomy with wellness...
Find out more »January 2020
Tsagaan Sar 2020 in Mongolia
Tsagaan Sar or Mongolia’s lunar new year is the most important festival for ethnic Mongols and the people of the Arctic where age-old rituals combine with eating local delicacies such as dumplings, sweets and plenty of vodka. While many travellers may be reluctant to visit the world’s coldest capital Ulaanbaatar in winter – temperatures can drop to -40C – Tsagaan Sar is a particularly favourable time for exploring Mongolia. This is when the country’s rich traditions come to life with…
Find out more »Chinese New Year 2020
Chinese New Year is undoubtedly China’s pre-eminent and most intense festive period characterised by sumptuous family meals, the colour red, paper lanterns and lots...
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