What's on the menu at Wells Food Festival?

Wells Food Festival with Charlie Bigham’s returns on Sunday October 10 to celebrate the best of Somerset food and drink. Here’s what to expect from the free-to-attend event

Artisan market and street food pop-ups

Over 150 artisan producers and street food cooks will line the streets of central Wells this year, creating a melting pot of fragrant smells to tempt passersby.

Festivalgoers will be able to browse a huge selection of Somerset-crafted food and drink, and speak to the producers about their handmade goodies. From cheese and wine to kimchi and biltong, the artisan market will have something to for every kind of foodie, so packing a tote bag is essential for the inevitable purchases.

After stocking up on goodies to take home, the next stop is the street food tents. There’ll be over 25 pop-ups rustling up an impressive range of world cuisines, including Ah-Ma’s dim sum, next-level mac ‘n’ cheese from Alp Mac, Sicilian Donkey’s authentic arancini and gravity-defying burgers from Fattso Burgers.

Celebrating English wine

The English wine scene is developing rapidly, and to recognise the wealth of first-class vineyards in the region Wells Food Festival is this year introducing an area dedicated to celebrating English wine. The English wine area in the Recreation Ground will host local vineyards Fenny Castle Vineyard, Perch Hill Vineyard, Pink & Co and Road Green Vineyard, giving attendees the opportunity to sample new tipples and chat to the winemakers.

There will also be a series of wine tastings with Ben Franks (of Novel Wines in Bath) throughout the day. The guided tastings cost between £12-£15 and include The Many Faces of English Bacchus (11am), Pairing English Wine with Food (12.30pm), and Why English Sparkling Wine is World Class (3pm). Book a spot in advance to avoid missing out.

Children’s cookery workshops

Mini foodies are more than welcome at Wells Food Festival and should head straight to the Recreation Ground to book a place on one of Fun Kitchen’s cookery workshops.

With four sessions throughout the day, kids will be able to join the team at the award-winning, pop-up cookery school to make their own apple scone twist bread. The workshops are free to attend but fill up fast, so pop down to secure a place.