What is British cuisine like? Surely something beyond fish and chips – find out the details at the Great British Food Festival.
The Great British Food Festival team organizes multiple events throughout the year, but its most iconic festival is coming up soon – at Harewood House, Leeds, from 2 June to 5 June, 2022. Every year, it attracts crowds of gourmand visitors as well as local producers, showcasing the best of British cuisine, street food, and produce through specialty and seasonal food and drink. This foodie paradise is a great opportunity to get a true taste of the United Kingdom in a merry festive atmosphere. As usual, there will be a wide array of produce and tastes from local and national producers – an amazing mix of cultures and cuisines offering exotic elements as well as the best of local products, like burgers, sausages, and traditional desserts.
It is recommended to buy tickets online in advance. Depending on availability, it may be possible to buy a ticket at the door.
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About the team
The Great British Food Festival started off as a small family-run event in 2010. Ten years of work and some hundred food events later, the team comprises few more members, while remaining a close-knit group of inspired organizers and administrators with a passion for each of their events.
A gastronomic gala…
Food is the protagonist of the festival, cuisine is its pole star. Visitors roam a spacious event site with stalls offering delicious hot food, cakes, hot drinks, draft beer, and barbecue. The lineup includes over a hundred local and national producers, street food, chef demos, and food-related activities and competitions, like Men v Food.
Any product limitations are taken care of – the Great British Food Festival makes sure to invite a mixed and varying array of traders with a stock range including vegetarian, vegan, lactose-free, and gluten-free options. Each trader can give advice on their assortment, so feel free to ask for the best treats with your diet taken into consideration.
Daily events include chef demos, during which professional chefs will walk you through one or two of their favorite recipes. Local as well as nationally renowned chefs will demonstrate different dishes and techniques, tips and shortcuts. The demos run all day, with the presenting chefs changing depending on the day, starting anew each hour, and they are free to attend. This year’s fabulous lineup includes Sandy Docherty, Eva Humphries, Fabio, and Sophie Hyam.
Also, there is Cake Off, a competition between bakers, featuring over 600 magnificent cakes. A half of the votes will be obtained from a judge panel, while the other half will be scored by randomly selected members of the audience – a tasting for everyone ensues after the winner is decided upon.
…and so much more
The iconic Great British Food Festival takes place at the lovely Harewood House, an 18th century country house of the Lascelles family. While Harewood House is still the family seat of Earl of Harewood, the house and territory are open to the public for most of the year. It is a fine English house with magnificent interiors and a close connection to the royal family.
Harewood House also features the Bird Garden, where visitors can see penguins, flamingos, and other birds, and the Farm Yard with animals to observe and pet at mini-zoos.
The soundtrack to your visit to the festival will be performed live by local musicians.
The Great British Food Festival cherishes family values, so the event is extremely children-friendly. There are plenty of things to do for the little ones, like circus skills and cookery workshops, treasure hunts, wacky races, and bouncy castles. The spacious estate grounds are free to run around in and burn off some energy.
Dogs are welcome at the territory as well – but with some limitations. Due to sanitary reasons, they are not allowed into the pavilions, should always be kept on lead, and the owners have to clean up after their dogs.
The Great British Food Festival is not only about fun – philanthropy is an important value of the event. The festival donates a percentage of the income to charities – a different one at each of the events.
