Farnham Heading for Food Frenzy
Crowd Enjoying Food Festival 2009
Farnham will once again be sent into a food frenzy with the annual Feast of Food set to return in and around the town in mid September.
Organised by Farnham Town Council, the Feast will run from 18th September – 2nd October to coincide with British Food Fortnight, a national celebration of the best of British food.
Lead member of the Tourism & Events Working Group, Cllr Stephen O’ Grady, explains more, “The Feast is now in its third year and its aim is quite simply to celebrate good British food through a series of epicurean events, including the Farmers’ Market, the Great British Food Crawl and the Food Festival.”
The Great British Food Crawl was a huge success last year. The Crawl gives local residents and visitors the opportunity to discover the excellent pubs and restaurants Farnham has to offer at a minimal price.
On each day of the Feast, a different establishment will offer a 3 course British menu for just £15.
Cllr O’ Grady comments, “The Council is pleased that local pubs and restaurants are once again keen to support this initiative. There is something for everyone available and with new establishments on board this year along with many old favourites, we hope that last year’s happy customers as well as new visitors will take advantage of this superb value for money offer.”
Visit the Great British Food Crawl page to discover the participating establishments and their menus.
The biggest culinary event within the Feast took Farnham by surprise last year. Historic Castle Street saw over 4,000 visitors descend to the original heart of the medieval market town to witness delights of the Food Festival. Visitors took advantage of the assortment of food on offer and learnt top culinary tips from local chefs providing cookery demonstrations.
Cllr O’ Grady added “We’re promising bigger and better than last year. Over 40 companies will form the bustling food market in Castle Street, providing delicious products to sample and buy. There will be plenty of entertainment to keep the whole family amused with activities, workshops and a programme of cookery demonstrations from local chefs.”
The chefs, which include head chefs of Farnham based establishments; Borelli’s, Loch Fyne and The Mulberry will show off their culinary skills to the audience from the on-site Demonstration Unit, in addition to Steve Drake, head chef of Michelin star establishment Drake’s Restaurant in Ripley.
Cllr O’ Grady commented “Steve was the first and only chef to demonstrate at the Food Festival in 2008 from a gas hob borrowed from Tongham Scouts! The Council is delighted with residents’ and visitors’ overwhelming response to the Festival, which has enabled us to build further on last year’s success and organise a whole demonstration programme. We would like to thank Steve and all of the chefs for their support for this event.”
The Festival will take place on Saturday 2nd October from 10am and is kindly sponsored by BBS Ltd, Borelli’s, The Blue Bell, The Herald Newspapers, The Old Rectory Cookery School, The Shepherd & Flock and Waitrose.
For more information about any of the events listed above, visit the Farnham Feast of Food page.
For further events in the towm, visit the Events Calendar.
