10th North Norfolk Food & Drink Festival Dates Announced

This year’s festival will once again be packed with the finest quality local produce, as all exhibitors’ products must be grown, reared, caught, produced or sold in North Norfolk. As with previous years, stall holders and sponsors can be found in the historic Walled Garden with a stunning array of real ales and fresh juices; fresh meat; local seafood; cheese; vegetables; local honey, cakes, fruit, ice-cream, puddings and tarts. This year will be extra special, with exhibitors being asked to create a special product and to decorate their stalls to mark the festival’s ten-year anniversary.

Visitors can be inspired and learn from the best in the cookery theatre, sponsored by Arthur Howell Butcher, where leading chefs and bakers will be showcasing food and drink pairings, headlining with Kettle Foods and Winbirri wines and Land and Sea to Plate.

Just outside the Walled Garden lies the Concession Area where the stalls will be selling a wide range of refreshments and different foods to fuel visitors of all ages to the festival. With seating on straw bales and at picnic tables, guests can enjoy everything from a hog roast to vegan street food plus drinks from a full bar, tea, coffee and cakes. As well as Arthur Howell Butcher, other delicious exhibitors at the festival include Brancaster Bay Shellfish, Duck Truck, The Travelling Blue Bird, Siam Rice Box, Grey Seal Coffee Roasters, Pie Central and brand new Heart Street.

At the same time, children will be well-entertained in a dedicated area run by Kinnerton’s Chocolate. When not filling up on delicious goodies, they can revel in many chocolate-themed activities and enjoy Tilly the Talespinner, a Norfolk-based storyteller. She will be weaving her magic and captivating children and adults alike, with stories providing ‘nourishment for the soul’ throughout the festival.

Headline sponsor Kettle Foods is once again offering its extremely valuable Mentoring Prize to one winning stallholder. Producers are asked to self-nominate for the Mentoring Prize which provides £1000 to the winner and business advice from senior management at Kettle Foods. Last year, Sarah Pettegree of Bray’s Cottage, award winning pork pies won the award.  Sarah said “I was so thrilled to win, obviously the £1,000 has been amazingly helpful, but also as an established business it has been even more valuable to have Kettle Food’s MD, Ashley’s, input and experience; it has helped shape our busiest year yet. I’m very grateful for what they have done for us, especially as I’ve long admired the hands-on and committed way they work as sponsors of the food festival.”

Other sponsors include Creake Abbey, The Real Ale Shop and SALT.

Chris Coubrough, Festival Chairman and owner of The Flying Kiwi Inns says:

“The North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival isn’t just a celebration of our rich, culinary heritage and a chance to showcase outstanding field-to-fork produce, it is most of all, a fantastic weekend to enjoy food and drink with friends and family in a stunning, iconic location. It’s a feast for all the senses!

“We’re thrilled to be welcoming new stallholders this year, including our first vegan stall – Heart Street. It’s a fantastic event to take part in and grows year on year, demonstrating just how popular and diverse Norfolk’s food and drink scene is.”

The festival prides itself on showcasing only the very best the region has to offer, with several stallholders winning prestigious awards in recent years. St Giles’ Gin won Gold at the World Gin Awards in 2009, and the best flavoured gin in the Gin Guide Awards 2019 for its deliciously refreshing Raspberry Rhubarb and Ginger Gin. A foodie winner is Nortons Dairy – regional local food and drink winners in the 2019 Countryside Alliance Awards, Norton’s Dairy also won a Gold medal at the 2017 British Cheese Awards for their scrumptious Soft Cheese with Lavender. Visitors will also spot many products donning the renowned Taste awards emblem throughout the festival.

Ashley Hicks, Kettle Foods MD says, “This festival offers a great opportunity to try some of the best food and drink that our region has to offer. Whilst you’re there, make sure you come to the ‘Create & Donate’ area on the Kettle stall and have a go at making your own limited-edition potato crisps in aid of our local charity partner, The Feed.”

The North Norfolk Food and Drink Festival is organised solely by a festival committee.