Thousands of visitors are expected to pack out the streets of Newport for this Saturday’s food festival – sponsored by Tiny Rebel.
The award-winning brewery which runs Urban Tap in the city centre is the headline sponsor of the free, one-day event which will see 80 stalls and more than a dozen food demonstrations or talks.
Tiny Rebel’s Bradley Cummings said: “We’re a proud Newport business so coming on board as headline sponsor of the festival is a great honour.”
The Golden Lion at Magor is a supporting sponsor – and two of its chefs are on the bill.
The mouth-watering line-up of chefs includes the Celtic Manor Resort’s TV chef Larkin Cen, Ben Periam of Mojo The Food Bar, James Sommerin of The Esplanade in Penarth, and Steve White of The Ruperra Arms.
The festival’s hotly-contested teen chef competition final will be staged at 10am upstairs in Newport Market, and there will be a battle of the burgers there between Pretentious Burger Kitchen and Meat Bar & Grill at 4pm.
There’s also a packed programme of entertainment with choirs and bands performing throughout the day.
Hywel Jones
Here are 9 tasty things to do at the festival:
Learn how to make perfect pasta – including a simple dish anyone can replicate at home – with the Executive Chef of The Park Michelin-starred restaurant and The Brasserie at Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Hywel Jones. His session will take place at 11am in the upper area of Newport Market.
Spice up your life with a tasting of some of the hot and fiery sauces from Monmouthshire producers Sorai. If you love chillis, these sauces are for you! We recommend the onion and balsamic sauce which has a hot tang.
Brush up on your cake decorating skills at a demonstration with Nia Thomas in 44 High Street at 2pm. Nia has 18 years of experience in decoration and sugar craft – and she has passed on her skills in classes and day schools for the past two years.
Sample fantastic, fresh, and funky vegetarian food at the Parsnipship stall – created at their base in South Wales. We’re in love with Parsnipship’s haloumi burgers.
Catch a demonstration by Gwent chef James Sommerin, whose Penarth restaurant has been awarded title of Best in Wales in the Good Food Guide 2016. He’ll be at the Pobl offices at 11.30am. He has inspired his 17-year-old daughter to work alongside him in his kitchen.
Clam’s Handmade Cakes
Check out the sweet taste of Clam’s Handmade Cakes at their stall – last year, they did a roaring trade. So pop along early to get the widest selection of cakes!
Learn how to cook with beer with the help of Tiny Rebel’s Paul Turley. His demonstration will be in the Pobl offices at 2.30pm.
Taste some wine or liqueur from exhibitors Cwm Deri Vineyard. We caught up with them at the recent Abergavenny Food Festival and loved their light and bright elderflower gin and smooth sloe gin.
Grab an ice lolly with a kick from Mojo The Food Bar’s pop-up cocktail bar – or a special cocktail created by mixologist and head bartender, Andrej Madaras.
From top chefs and food writers to TV presenters and a former star of the Great British Bake Off – this year’s Abergavenny Food Festival will be a feast for its tens of thousands of visitors.
Last year’s event attracted 30,000 people, and this year’s festival will run from Friday night (September 16) to Sunday.
This year’s line-up has a taste of cooking from India, Italy, France, Spain, Malaysia, Poland, Japan, Korea, and the UK.
MasterChef: The Professionals presenter and former Le Gavroche senior sous chef Monica Galetti talks about her new book, The Skills, and stages a masterclass at the Borough Theatre on Friday evening.
On Saturday, Abergavenny Food Festival favourite Cyrus Todiwala will be at the Borough Theatre showing visitors how to get 120 dishes out of 10 spices with recipes from his new book, Mr Todiwala’s Spice Box. The chef, restaurateur, and author has been called the UK’s best Indian chef.
Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Jose Pizzaro will share culinary secrets from his new book, Basque, during a session at the Borough Theatre on Saturday.
Founder of the Riverford Field Kitchen, Jane Baxter, will give a taste of her new book, Leon Happy Salads, at the Masonic Hall on Sunday.
Tim McDougall
What To Eat Now star Valentine Warner returns to the festival with new fish recipes at the Priory Centre on Sunday, and Llansantffraed Court chef Tim McDougall will be demonstrating recipes with Usk Valley beef, Monmouthshire lamb, and Bristol Channel sea bass at the Priory Centre on Sunday.
If you’ve been diagnosed as a coeliac, Naomi Devlin will be holding a masterclass at the Priory Centre on Saturday called River Cottage Gluten Free. She will be preparing some of the 120 recipes in her book – which don’t compromise on taste.
Miss Foodwise blog editor Regina Ysewijn will prepare 17th Century puddings from her book, Pride and Pudding, at the Masonic Hall on Saturday.
You could learn Japanese cooking with food writer and chef Kimiko Barber at the Borough Theatre on Saturday.
Sam Evans and Shauna Guinn
Or you could pick up expert barbecue tips from the dynamic funders of the Hang Fire Smokehouse at the Priory Centre on Saturday. Sam Evans and Shauna Guinn will also be sharing tales of their cooking misadventure from their book, Recipes and Adventures in American BBQ.
Richard Burr
Builder-turned-baker Richard Burr, a finalist in last year’s Great British Bake Off, will tell you how to be a star baker during a session at the Masonic Hall on Saturday. He will demonstrate recipes from his first cookbook, Bake It Yourself.
Norman Musa will demonstrate recipes from his book Amazing Malaysian at the Priory Centre on Saturday, Marie Cheong-Thong and Jon Old will be talking about sake and wasabi at the Masonic Hall on Saturday, and Eleonara Galasso will talk about modern Roman cuisine at the Priory Centre on Saturday.
Vegetarians will find a feast of ideas from Alice Hart when she talks about her new book The Modern Vegetarian at the Masonic Hall on Saturday.
Also on the bill: pop-up restaurateurs Terry and George; food writer William Sitwell; writer and recipe developer Eleanor Ford; Zuza Zak; Brad McDonald; Martha Collison.
The festival features a packed programme of forages and tours, tutored tastings, and sessions at the Artisan Kitchen School.
A North Wales brewery scooped a prestigious award in tonight’s Champion Beer of Britain Awards.
Heavy Industry Brewing based at Henllan won the strong bitter category with its ale, 77, at the awards staged at the Great British Beer Festival in London.
Founder Tom McNeill set up the brewery in 2012 after completing a course in British Brewing Technology at Brewlab in Sunderland.
He learned he loved brewing cask ales and worked for the summer of 2009 at Purple Moose Brewery in Porthmadog. There, he learned about running a brewery.
Heavy Industry Brewing started out with a ten barrel brew kit and now produces 10 beers including 77, Diawl Bach, Nelson’s Eye, Pigeon Toed Orange Peel, and Dr Jekyll’s Last Waltz.
The winning beer, 77, is an amber IPA brewed with pale and crystal malts and has a flavour of dark Seville marmalade spiked with pepper. Find out more about the brewery here.
It was a good night for Welsh brewers.
Aberdare’s Grey Trees Brewers picked up a silver in the golden ale category for Digger’s Gold.
Newport’s Tiny Rebel Brewery – the winner of last year’s champion ale title with its beer Cwtch – picked up two awards. It won silver in the bitter category for Hank, and joint bronze in best bitter category for Cwtch.
The Great British Beer Festival is run by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
This year’s supreme champion brewery is Bingham’s of Runscombe in Berkshire for its Vanilla Stout.
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Top chefs will display their skills at this weekend’s Caernarfon Food Festival.
Bryn Williams (pictured), the star of TV’s Cegin Bryn and the owner and proprieter of Odette’s, is joined on the bill by Beca Lyne-Pirkis of Becws Beca and The Great British Bake Off, Masterchef The Professionals contestant Matt Guy, Blas restaurant owner Dan ap Geraint, and Ffres ambassador Lisa Fearn.
Demonstrations will also be staged by Anglesey Cookery School, and there will be sessions on recipes from World War II by the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum.
There will be dozens of stall selling everything from cakes and sweets to meat, wine, and cheeses at the event on May 14.
There will also be a dedicated children’s area and music from Cor Dre, Pon Bro, Bandana, and Cor Cofnod.
Thousands of people will flock to Caerphilly on Saturday for the town’s annual food festival.
Around 100 traders will line the streets offering everything from ice cream and baklava to pulled pork and liqueurs.
There will also be a farmers’ market and craft market, where shoppers will find produce, hand-made goods and gifts.
There will be Broil BBQ demonstrations and children’s cookery classes in the Twyn Car Park, along with puppet shows, donkey rides, ‘crazy waiters’, and street magicians at the top of Cardiff Road.
Musical attractions will include The Voice contestant Tobias Robertson, Tomos Lewis, Maddie Jones, Buffalo, and Francesca’s World Salad. They will perform below the visitor centre opposite the castle.
Thousands are expected to shop at Cardiff Christmas Market
Cardiff’s Christmas Market opens tomorrow – and a number of its stalls offer food and drink treats for your festive shopping.
The market, organised by Craft Folk, will be held at St John Street, Working Street, The Hayes, Hills Street and Trinity Street
Trading Hours – Thursday November 12 (first day) 10am to 8pm. Then – 10am to 5.30pm Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm Sunday and 10am to 7pm every Thursday in December. Wednesday December 23 ( last day) 10am to 4pm.
Visitors can commission personalised gifts, sample the food and drink on offer or enjoy a glass of mulled wine to keep warm while browsing. There is a selection of whisky, wines, fruit and cream liqueurs, cheese, hot welsh cakes, roasted nuts, chocolate brownies and delicious hand-made chocolates.
Food exhibitors include Delicia Cakes and Teas, gourmet vegan pies from Mr Nice Pie, spicy products from The Wiltshire Chilli Farm, Severn Ciders Ltd, Brynmawr artisan preserves producer Miss Daisy’s Kitchen, Nutty But Nice selling hot, roasted nuts, Field Bar Wine, and Fudge Philosophy.
Craft Folk says: “This year, we have an extensive rolling programme of over 190 individual businesses selling a wide variety of diverse arts and crafts interspersed with seasonal food and drink.”
Tickets are now on sale for Abergavenny’s Christmas Food and Drink Fair.
Organisers say the Christmas event, on Sunday December 13, promises a fantastic day out for the whole family filled with plenty of opportunities to eat, drink and be merry.
The one-day event offers crafty card and chocolate making workshops for the perfect home-made Christmas to delicious goodies from more than 80 stallholders and free chef demonstrations to make Christmas dinner extra special.
Three venues will transform into a winter wonderland, with a host of seasonal delights, unique gifts and even the chance to pick up a signed book from your loved ones’ favourite chef.
For those wanting to get started early, acclaimed mixologist Dom Jacobs will be kicking off the festive fun on Saturday December 12 with his show-stopping cocktail masterclass and top tips, all taken from his exclusive Mayfair cocktail menu.
Alongside all of this, there’s also a chance for the whole family to get involved with the Christmas Musical Feast and Festive Light Parade as guests are invited to make their own lanterns and follow the Abergavenny Town Band to the church for a concert and food-themed evening service which promises to be a magical ending to the day.
Heather Myers, Chief Executive of the festival said: “After the resounding success of the Festival in September, we can’t wait to open the doors to Abergavenny once again and invite everyone back to celebrate Christmas with us.”
Tickets:
Adult – £5 (children under 16 go free, but they must have a wristband too)
Vicky Jones and Nick Saltmarsh: Bean Magic 11am – 11:45am
Vicky Jones, author of Out of the Pod, and Nick Saltmarsh of Hodmedods prepare a selection of healthy yet delicious snacks to nibble with festive drinks.
Jim Hamilton: Not a Partridge in a Pear Tree noon – 12:45pm
Abergavenny’s Kings Arms Hotel chef, Jim Hamilton will show you how to prepare a quick alternative to the traditional turkey roast.
Angela Gray: Festive French Sweet Treats 1pm – 1.45pm
Angela Gray of the Angela Gray Cookery School at Llanarch Vineyard will demonstrate some French goodies such as Buche de Noel, 12th Night Tart and Golden Pears with praline stuffing, picked up during her time in Paris.
Liz Knight and Rufus Carter: The Canapes Crusaders 2pm -2.45pm
Liz Knight of Forage Fine Foods and Rufus Carter of Patchwork are coming to Abergavenny to put the record straight on canapes being just booze soaker-upper’s.
Jules James: Black Mountain Gold! Chocolate that is… 3pm – 3.45pm
Maitre Chocolatier, Jules James from Black Mountain Gold chocolate in Crickhowell will demonstrate extra special chocolatier skills from how to temper chocolate to making chocolate bars to impress friends over the festive season.
There are 103 reasons to visit Llangollen Food and Drink Festival this weekend.
With 103 exhibitors, the festival is one of Wales’ largest and it is celebrating its 18th anniversary this year.
The event is supported by the rural development agency, Cadwyn Clwyd.
Committee chairman Colin Loughlin: “We have a wonderful array of fantastic food producers clustered in the area and the festival is the perfect shop window for them.
“A food festival is so much better and more interesting than going to the supermarket because here you can sample the food and talk to the producers.”
Helen Roberts, Cadwyn Clwyd’s agri-food project officer, said: “Thanks to a whole host of indigenous companies, North East Wales is rapidly establishing a reputation as a centre of excellence for high quality cuisine.”
The 2015 event will also feature demonstrations by top chefs, including Britain’s youngest head chef, Luke Thomas, and Welsh culinary champion, Graham Tinsley, along with stand-up comedian, Silky, who will show off his cookery skills for the first time ever. The event is rated among the top 10 food festivals in the UK, and in the past has has helped launch successful products like the Aberffraw biscuit, Blodyn Aur extra virgin rapeseed oil and the Dangerous Food Company’s chilli jam.
Blodyn Aur rapeseed oil
DETAILS:
Venue: The Llangollen Pavilion, Llangollen Dates: Saturday October 17, Sunday October 18 Times: 10am to 5pm both days Entry fee: £5, under 16s free, £4 for over 65 Parking: On-site and nearby car parks
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