Top 10 food and farming festivals to visit..

A rundown of our favourite ten food and farming festivals during the 2015 summer season..

1. Grow London

Held on the 19th, 20th and 21st of June on Hampstead Heath, Grow London is more a gardening show aimed at a younger (urban) audience interested in growing food in small spaces (part-time urban farmers?). We love the concept and you can check out the highlights from our 2014 photo story here – For more information check out their website growlondon.com

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2. The Smallholders Show

Held on the 4th and 5th of July at The South of England Showground, Ardingly, West Sussex. We did a photo story on the event last year (as we were there to promote the Indie Farmer Road Trip) – see here.  And for more details check out their website smallholdershows.co.uk. We’ll be there again this year, with a selection of Indie Farmer merch, so come and see us and if you fancy getting an indie farmer t-shirt get down there early!

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3. Lambeth County Show

Held on the 18 and 19th of July at Brockwell Park in London – it’s one of London’s largest shows and has everything you’d expect at a county show including livestock from a selection of the City farms in London. Check out my photo story from last year here and for more details see their website lambethcountryshow.co.uk

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4. Jimmy’s Sausage and Beer Festival

Held on the 25th and 26th of July on Jimmy Doherty’s farm in Suffolk. With a great line up of bands and a huge BBQ this festival offers a great day out in the countryside for all the family. For more details check out the website jimmysfarm.com.

5. The Port Elliot Festival 

Held on the 30th July, 1st and 2nd of August at St. Germans in Cornwall. Set in a spectacular location, Port Elliot combines music, words, food, fashion, comedy, nature, art and history. For more details check out their website www.porteliotfestival.com.

6. The Big Feastival by Jamie Oliver and Alex James

Held on 28th, 29th and 30th of August on Alex James’ farm in Kingham, Oxfordshire. The Big Feastival is an amazing 3 days of great music, food and entertainment – offering something for all the family. Check out our photo story from last year (when we dropped in on our Indie Farmer Road Trip) here. And for more details check out the website jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival/

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7. Urban Food Fortnight

Held from the 11-27th September all over London. UFF is a series of events throughout London to celebrate the vast array of amazing food and drink on offer and organised by Sustain London. We went along for gin tasting tour at Sipsmith’s Micro Distillery in 2013 and a talk on Urban Farming at the Dalston Curve Garden. Check out the website for details on this years activities….sustainweb.org/uff/

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8. The Good Life Experience

Held on the 18, 19 and 20th of September on the Hawarden Estate in Flintshire, North Wales – founded by Charlie and Caroline Gladstone and the musician Cerys Matthews they launched last year to much fanfare. The festival celebrates music, food and the great outdoors and whilst we couldn’t be there last year we followed along on instagram and it all looked amazing (especially the axe throwing!!). Definitely one to check out this year – see their website thegoodlifeexperience.co.uk.

9. Abergavenny Food Festival

Held on the 20th and 21st of September Abergavenny Food Festival is the biggest and best loved food festival in Wales. The award winning festival now exhibits over 200 of the finest food and drink producers along with demonstrations from leading chefs and food experts. For more details check out their website abergavennyfoodfestival.com

10. The Nidderdale Show

Held on the 21st September in the picturesque Yorkshire Dale village of Nidderdale. It’s a truly traditional agricultural show – check out our photo story for 2013 here and for more information check out their website nidderdaleshow.co.uk

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