This summer, Winchester will have its first dedicated free festival celebrating local producers and talented chefs.
Hampshire Fare is organising the very first Winchester Food Festival, on Sunday July 9, as a key event in this year’s Hampshire Food Festival.
Working with Winchester BID and Winchester Cathedral, the festival will be free to attend and showcase produce from the Winchester district and wider Hampshire area.
Winchester Food Festival will be held in the cathedral’s Outer Close, and will open from 10am with a chefs’ kitchen running from 12pm.
Top chefs from favourite restaurants will be sharing tips and creating recipes using local produce provided by festival sponsor Quob Park Free Range and Organic.
The line-up includes Damian Brown from Chesil Rectory, Paul Onami from Kyoto Kitchen, and Lenny Carr-Roberts, of The Bugle in Twyford, The Fox in Crawley, and Shoal in Winchester. Mr Carr-Roberts started his career at Le Gavroche, but is best known for his television appearances alongside TV chef James Martin.
Tracy Nash, from Hampshire Fare, said: “Winchester Cathedral provides the perfect backdrop to this new free festival. We have been wanting to hold a truly local summertime food festival in Winchester for a long time. We are really delighted that so many businesses from across the Winchester District have stepped forward to help us hold what will be a key event in the Hampshire Food Festival calendar, and a new event for Winchester going forwards.”
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Produce will range from superfood micro-greens to locally caught trout, coffee, orchard juices and no-alcohol cocktails to gins infused with local botanicals, plus fudge, fizz, fresh veg, breads, honey and cheeses.
There will be BBQ cooking with Socal, plus there will be a big focus on community and green issues with Winchester Beacon, the local homeless charity and the festival’s charity partner, collaborating with the social enterprise Munch to shine a spotlight on creating budget-friendly dishes.
Nutritionist Mary Needham will be sharing tips on getting the most from ingredients, how to reduce food bills without compromising on flavour and simple ways to make healthy dishes.
Paul Spencer, Winchester BID executive director, said: “Winchester BID is delighted to be supporting the Winchester Food Festival as part of the Hampshire Food Festival. Winchester is a fantastic place for foodies and this new event will celebrate local producers and businesses in the beautiful setting of Winchester Cathedral. Come along! Visitors can also visit the Hampshire Farmer’s Market and explore the city centre. It will be a fantastic day to be in Winchester.”
John Blake, from Winchester Cathedral, said: “We are delighted to host the inaugural Winchester Food Festival in the cathedral’s historic grounds and are excited to partner with Hampshire Fare for what, we sincerely hope, will become an annual event in the city’s festival calendar.”
The has been made possible thanks to support from local businesses including NFU Mutual Winchester & Wickham; Shorewood Homes; and The Winchester Bakery.
For more information about Winchester Food Festival follow @winchesterfoodfestival on social media or visit winchesterfoodfestival.co.uk.
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