For those of you who can’t wait until the Clapham Common festival in late July or can’t wait to find out if you’ve won our Foodies Festival Clapham Common competition which closes on Friday 23rd May, then this weekend might be for you.
For those of you who don’t know, Foodies Festival is the UK’s biggest celebration of food and drink and is now in its 10th year. This Bank Holiday Weekend you’ll find them in London’s at Syon Park (23,24,25th May)
Oh and if you’ve never heard of Syon Park, don’t worry neither had we, but from their official park website, it looks very nice indeed. To quote their website “Syon is one of the last great houses of London, and has been in the family of the present owners for more than 400 years. Profoundly historic, the House holds a wealth of art within its grand classical interiors, while the Park and Gardens feel like deep countryside, although barely nine miles from Charing Cross.”
If this sounds posh, you’d be on the money, but you may also be surprised to hear that it is also very close to Brentford Station and is just over the river from Kew Gardens.
Foodies Festival are not surprisingly transforming the gardens into a foodie heaven with celebrity and top local chefs, new tasting theatres, artisan producers and more street food than you can shake a satay stick at!
For Masterchef fans you’ll want to see the award winning celebrity chef Aldo Zilli joined by 2014 MasterChef winner Ping Coombes and 2015 MasterChef finalist Tony Rodd in the Aga Rangemaster Chefs Theatre, where they will cook their favourite summers recipes, inspiring festival-goers to recreate their dishes at home and experiment with new flavours and ingredients.
A full list of Top chefs appearing at Foodies Festival Syon Park include:
Ping Coombes – 2014 MasterChef Winner
Tony Rodd – 2015 MasterChef Finalist
Aldo Zilli – Award Winning Celebrity Chef
Will Stayner – York & Albany
Maria Tampakis – Heddon Street Kitchen
Peter Joseph – Tamarind
Dhruv Baker – MasterChef Winner 2010
Richard Kirkwood – The Wright Brothers
Fernando Stovell – Stovells
Adam Handling – Adam Handling at Caxton
Matt Robinson – Bluebird
Michael Weiss – Quiglanos
Tommy Boland – Almeida
Jackie Weight – Blues Smokehouse
Mat Follas – The Casterbridge & MasterChef Champion
Anjula Devi – Authentic Indian Cooking
Saira Hamilton – small aubergine
If that isn’t your thing there’s much much more on offer to get your taste buds excited:
You can Toast the Foodies Festival’s big year in the New Wine and Champagne Theatre, where experts Neil Phillips and Charles Metcalfe will guide visitors through this season’s best British bubblies from the UK and around the world, while beer expert Melissa Cole hosts masterclasses in the New Craft Beer Theatre, matching foods with locally produced craft beers.
A New Tasting Theatre offers ‘How to Sniff Chocolate like a Rockstar’ and Chocolate Safari masterclass with Coeur de Xocolat, and local experts guide visitors through Urban Bee Keeping, Cheese Tasting, Mixology and Spice Balancing.
The Cake & Bake Theatre is an inspiration for passionate bakers with top local cake makers and bakeries sharing their tips for baking delicious summer cakes. Visitors can also enjoy 3D cake modelling, Chocolate Making and Sugar-Craft masterclasses and a complementing Chocolate, Cake and Bake Village selling bakes, jams, gadgets and baking essentials.
The Street Food Avenue is a feasting hub at the heart of the festival, offering a huge selection of hot and cold dishes from around the world. Japanese, Thai, Brazilian, Argentinian, Indian, Mexican, French and African are just some of the cuisines visitors can tuck into at communal tables in the Feasting Tent.
With over 200 exhibitors in the Artisan Producers Market selling award winning cheeses, wines, bakes and condiments; festival-goers will be spoilt for choice with samples and for what to buy to take home and enjoy – a perfect setting to meet the producers and share their passion for food and drink.
A BBQ Arena hosts grilling experts who will share their favourite recipes for fans of outdoor dining and King of the Grill Challenges take place throughout the day. For those brave – or foolish enough – the famous Chilli Eating Competition challenges those who like it spicy to try and break the current record of 14 varieties of chillies eaten to win the Chilli Eating Crown.
Little foodies can explore their taste buds and learn basic skills with Picnic in the Park themed masterclasses in the Childrens Cookery Theatre, where Kiddy Cook will show them how to make finger sandwiches, jellies and chocolate bugs.
After a day of food and fun, foodies can relax with a spot on the grass and soak in the atmosphere with live music from the entertainment stage and a glass of bubbly or cocktail from the Giant Pimm’s Teapot or Captain Morgan Mojito Galleon.
For tickets and other info visit the Foodies Festival website, there is also a discount doing the rounds “Two Tickets & Showguides from £16. Quote ‘FOODIES15‘ when booking” but we haven’t tried it.
