This real foodie destination is returning on the 24th & 25th September with a myriad of demonstrations from some of the country’s leading chefs and bakers. Within the line-up is the 2021 winner of the Great British Bake Off - Giuseppe Dell’Anno and MasterChef Winner – Eddie Scott.
They will also be joined on the Big Cookery Stage by other Great British Bake Off contestants including Jurgen Krauss, Rosie Pointer, Val Stones and of course Stephen Carter-Bailey who has supported the festival for several years. Plus other illustrious chefs and bakers such as Dave Mooney, Alex Hollywood, Noma and Zena Kamaing who came to the public’s attention in Jamie Oliver’s Cookbook Star. This mix of both national and local leading lights are all keen to reveal their love of food by creating tempting dishes, while giving us their foodie insights and thoughts.
Alongside the Big Cookery Stage is a new feature for this year. The Festival Village - which will be an interactive area of cooking and masterclasses for both adults and children with Fun Kitchen workshops for the kids and our Food Glorious Food Tent - where you can listen to interviews with some of our fabulous Artisan producers. This area will form a hub of dynamic activity, while there will also be the usual important features including:
Artisan and Street Food Markets
A delicious mix of sweet, savoury, hot, cold, vegan, vegetarian and flavours from right the way around the world. There is bound to be something delicious to suit every taste! Many producers are already booked, but fortunately the scale of the showground lends itself to allowing plenty of space for more to join. Stallholder applications are now open, so if you are a street food or artisan producer looking for an opportunity to share your food and drink delights, then get in contact.
More than just food
The core of Thame Food Festival is always about the food and drink. However, no festival is complete without live music which will again be both in the Artisan Village and also from the Live Music Stage sponsored by local Thame business - Adactus. Alongside will be the ever-popular Pop-Up pub by FestivAles featuring a fantastic range of local award-winning brews. Then for the shopaholics, step into the shopping marquee of eclectic home and kitchenware which will be returning with Humble Country.
The dedicated Children’s Activity Area will return with local charity Thomley entertaining the children with lots of art and fun things to do. And once again, there will be dog shows and demonstrations by Hearing Dogs for Deaf People with all money raised goes directly to the charities. Plus the ever popular Flotsam and the Fool circus skills workshops which will encourage the younger visitors to try juggling, spinning plates and more.
The main sponsor Airband Community Internet is an alternative Internet Service Provider focused on bringing ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises to underserved businesses and communities. Working with local authorities, Airband want to ensure Oxfordshire residents can enjoy sizable servings of ultrafast speeds at home and at work. Airband have already connected homes across Thame to fibre, many more are on the way. Airband has chosen to sponsor the Food Festival partly because they are striving to support community activities in the areas where they can provide a service, and partly because their team wanted to try all the food on offer!
James Hyland, Head of Marketing, explains:
“Airband is all about connecting communities. With our ultrafast fibre broadband, we can ensure Thame homes and businesses get the speeds they need for modern life, and by sponsoring the Food Festival, we can get the word out about this fantastic opportunity.”
Of the event Lotte Duncan, Patron and Organiser said;
“It is a real honour to have both Giuseppe Dell’Anno from The Great British Bake Off and Eddie Scott from Masterchef. In fact, we are so delighted to be joined by so many fabulous chefs and bakers. Work is well under way to making the Food Festival a very special end to the Summer. We are so excited to be able to bring together many wonderful artisan and street food producers again, so they have the opportunity to showcase all the wonderful things they offer.”
With so much going on and such a significant chef and baker line-up over both days it is going to be difficult to choose which day to attend! Advance entrance is £12 per day (accompanied children under 16 go free). Come eat, drink and do! Join for a fun, fabulous, feasting family day out!
