THIS year’s Ludlow Food Festival promises to be a truly memorable event, with a mouth-watering line-up of attractions for foodies and families alike.
This is the 16th year of the festival that starts today and runs until Monday evening.
Local produce is, as ever, at the heart of the event and there’s all manner of ‘real’ food, from rare breed meat to artisan cheeses, plus a fantastic choice of real ales, ciders and perries.
A series of ‘trails’ will lead visitors round the town to taste a huge range of sausages, breads and beers and they can vote for their favourites.
The Castle Gardens promise to be an epicurean paradise and of course there are plenty of restaurants, cafes and bars where visitors can sit back, relax and watch the world go by.
Over the three days of the festival, there’s a rolling programme of informative and entertaining talks, demonstrations, hands-on workshops and displays.
Cookery classes will be on offer with local chefs demonstrating their talents – including Michelin starred La Bécasse head chef Will Holland, who won through to the finals of this year’s Great British Menu.
Traders from across the UK will be battling it out for the first ever British Street Food Awards – a prestigious prize that will test their skills cooking in mobile kitchens the size of a postage stamp!
‘Slow food’ tutored tastings are another attraction, with nearly 200 top quality small independent food and drink producers from the Marches and the border counties lined up with tempting morsels.
There’s plenty of fun for all ages too – with street performers, a big top circus, cooking with kids, Caribbean music and food from The Levi Roots Experience. A host of other entertainers will be performing throughout the town helping to raise cash for the Festival’s chosen charity, Self Help Africa.