York Mini Food and Drink Festival
Following on from the ongoing success of the annual York Food Festival, the first mini May York Food Festival is a weekend taster market celebrating and showcasing the best of Yorkshire’s produce.
The not-for-profit run organisation promotes local, quality Yorkshire produce as well as putting York on the map as a food-lovers destination. There has been a significant growth in visitors attending the Festival in recent years. The success of the September event has enabled organisers to put on this first Mini Festival to present some new themes as well as as generate interest in the ten-day Festival in September.
The Festival Market
We met up with Michael Hjort and Debbie Waite, Directors of the Festival to find out what the weekend had in store.
“Alongside regular favourites, this event is exciting for us as it allows us to trial out a few new concepts. We’ll be launching the ‘Dine at My Table’ event, a ticketed event which allows attendees to dine in places they wouldn’t normally be able to. The launch event will be held at the 18th Century Mansion House with the Lord Mayor”.
Other highlights include:
- A stand which is a collaboration of the best of the regions smaller producers
- Local beer and cheese tasting
- A celebration of Sand-Hutton asparagus, with an asparagus-themed menu and coffee from the York Coffee Emporium at the (licensed) Festival Cafe
The programme of demonstrations and tastings will include Yorkshire’s Celebrity Chefs, including Ashley McCarthy of the Sun Inn, Colton, and to keep the children happy, a chocolate making session run by York’s Sophie Jewitt of Little Pretty Things.
The Festival offers plenty for children
The Festival Market includes many of the best of the Festival’s contributors; great smokehouse delicacies, local meats, asparagus, regional cheese makers, beer sampling, cakes, hot pickles as well as those selling a range of street food. Innovative stands include the collaborative group Yorkshire Truly, which include cottage industry traders, selling home-made items such as preserves by Grace from York; the Gingerbread House, from Whitby; a West Yorkshire business making pesto and pasta sauces, Daisy Bank; chocolate drop confectioners Toftly Treats, of Newton-upon- Rawcliffe and Rare Breed Pork from Ruler Hall.
There will be plenty of local produce in the Festival Market
For a full programme of events and tickets to ticketed events visit the York Food Festival website.
We will be posting a review of the event and looking at what’s in store for September here.
