Citation
(2009), "Regional Food and Drink Festival", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 39 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2009.01739aac.003
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Regional Food and Drink Festival
Article Type: Conference reports From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 39, Issue 1
East Midlands Food and Drink Festival returned to Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, 4-5 October 2008
The award-winning East Midlands Food and Drink Festival took place at Brooksby Hall near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire from 4-5 October 2008. The UK’s largest regional food and drink festival spread over 50,000 sq. ft. of covered marquee space at the site and featured over 200 exhibitors from around the region, and is expected to have attracted over 20,000 visitors this year.
Top celebrity chefs including Clarissa Dickson Wright, Rachel Green and Anjum Anand from the BBC’s Indian Food Made Easy led the celebrations by hosting talks and demonstrations throughout the two-day festival.
The theme for this year’s festival was “Diversity: Food and Cultures of the East Midlands”. Besides traditional delicacies such as Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, Bakewell Pudding and Stilton Cheese, the East Midlands has a wealth of foods from communities that have settled in the region since the second world war. Leicester won the coveted accolade last year of “Curry Capital” of the UK and Melton Mowbray’s gastronomy has been enriched by its large Polish population. The festival celebrated this diversity in food with demonstrations of gastronomy from a range of different cultures, many of whom also displayed their art, dance, music and crafts during the weekend.
The Food Festival web site is www.eastmidlandsfoodfestival.com
Festival Chairman, Matthew O’Callaghan said:
The East Midlands Food Festival has evolved into one of the most popular and progressive food festivals in the UK. The festival is a truly unique celebration of food and drink, combining the great rural cuisine and culture of Melton Mowbray and Leicestershire, with the diverse gastronomy of the region as a whole.