If there’s been one form of social gathering which has really been gaining momentum over the past decade it is the food festival - a type of event which, needless to say, has take a major knock-back over the last couple of years… But, as the pandemic hopefully lessens its grip on our lives, the increasingly popular get-togethers are coming back with a vengeance. 

Indeed, the general feeling is that the classic food and drink festival will be more popular than ever - simply because so many of us spent so much of our socially-isolated weeks and months honing culinary skills and falling even more deeply in love with the idea of eating good food. 

Next weekend marks the comeback of one of the region’s most popular culinary events - the annual Dartmouth Food Festival which has been punching way above the weight that could be expected of one small Devon estuarine town for nearly 20 years. Despite having a population of fewer than 7000 people, Dartmouth is in the premier league of annual West Country food festivals attracting well over 20,000 every October.

Here’s how the organisers describe the event… “Having grown from humble beginnings in 2002 into a first class feast of entertainment featuring workshops, seminars, tastings, competitions, demonstrations and over 120 hand-picked exhibitors (70% of which are from Devon), it truly is the very best that the South West has to offer.”

One national newspaper described Dartmouth Food Festival as a “heady mix of celebrity chefs, parties, food markets, tasting shacks and demonstrations.”

“What gives us extra stand out is the fact that we’re a free festival,” a spokesman commented. “Anyone and everyone is welcome to come along and take part without being charged an entry fee.”

There are, however, some ticketed events - and I will be hosting the first of those next Friday when Food Drink Devon opens its marquee and market at the festival with a ‘meet the producers’ series of interviews (£6.50 a person - all proceeds of which will be going into the festival’s coffers). It’s a chance for keen foodies to get up close and personal with a range of local producers and taste their wares and learning more about the provenance of their produce.

In a series of six half-hour chats I will be interviewing Sea Arch founders Sarah and Geoff Yates who make a delicious distilled non-alcoholic spirit which is “inspired by the Devon coast and bursting with seaside botanicals”. 

Next I’ll be chatting with Tom and Shannon Burnell, who live on the family farm just across the river at Kingswear. Tom, a skilled butcher with over 10 years experience, is the youngest of three generations still working on the family dairy and beef farm - and now he and Shannon have created Grove Meadows, a company which delivers fresh meat boxes across the South Hams area. All their produce is sourced locally and is grass fed and naturally matured. 

After that I’ll be talking to the folk who run Huxbear Vineyard, a family owned business producing hand crafted wines in the Devon countryside. It was in 2007 that Ben and Lucy Hulland planted the vineyard, situated on 14 acres in the Teign Valley - they later added another acre at the fully sustainable vineyard so that they now look after more than 16,000 vines which create mainly sparkling wines. 

I will also be talking the producers behind Dartington Mill, an innovative venture that sees two farmers, a miller and a baker working together to grow organic and biodynamic specialist wheats, grains and pulses, and mill them into flours and flaked products for sale to the public and bakeries. Their mantra (and who could disagree?) is one that says: keep our food systems local, sustainable and simple is crucial to help mitigate climate change.

And who could resist hearing from a coffee roaster who uses a traditional wood-fired technique when dealing with those all-important beans? The Curator Cafe Coffee Roasters of Totnes are the only roasters in the UK using sustainable local wood to roast coffee beans. They say this makes their Curator coffee unique thanks to the slow heat from the fire and the speciality beans they source. 

As a (very) amateur maker of sourdough bread I am certainly looking forward to the team from Buckfastleigh’s Hylsten Bakery, because the reputation for both their bread and their sourdough-making classes has grown and grown. I will be asking for a few hints and tips and the team will be explaining how the bakery and the school are helping to build a resilient local food system, supporting local growers and millers.

After all the talking, the eating and the drinking will begin when the Food Drink Devon marquee turns itself form an interview theatre into a full-fledged local market next Friday afternoon.  

Later that evening Salcombe Gin - bar-sponsor for the entire Dartmouth Food Festival - will be staging a Live Distillation Event at the Chefs Demo Tent in Royal Avenue Gardens (£25 per person). Angus Lugsdin, co-founder of Salcombe Gin, will be demonstrating a live distillation of this award-winning local gin - the audience can expect to be informed and entertained and, of course be able to sample the now world-famous product.

Angus will also be involved in two other events which include the Salcombe Distilling Company - one on Saturday with chefs Mitch Tonks and Mark Hix and one on Sunday with chef Ellie Wentworth. 

And talking of Dartmouth chef Mitch Tonks, another thing to look out for at this year’s festival will be the unique coming together of two legendary seafood restaurants. It’s a story which began more than 20 years ago when Mitch (who owns Dartmouth’s famous Seahorse restaurant) stumbled across the husband and wife team at the legendary Trattoria al Gatto Nero restaurant located on the island of Burano in Venice while on a food research trip. A friendship began, and next weekend at the festival the family behind the famous Venetian institution will be bringing their huge reputation for impeccable seafood to Dartmouth.

Trattoria al Gatto Nero is considered one of the best seafood restaurants in the world and Mitch explained:“I was visiting Venice and I asked the concierge where I should eat, he recommended a place his mother loved and told me to head to Burano and go to al Gatto Nero. I was met with a pretty life changing experience and had the most wonderful seafood meal I’d ever eaten. It’s a magical family restaurant, I fell in love with the place and I remember exactly how it made me feel. It was my inspiration behind The Seahorse. We’re honoured to welcome Ruggero, Massi and the family to guest host with us again for the Dartmouth Food Festival.”

The Seahorse will run a series of guest chef events over the weekend - and the al Gatto Nero team will also set up a traditional Venetian Fish Fry at the festival outside the restaurant. The Seahorse will also have the bespoke charcoal grill trailer from its luxury event arm also serving food on the embankment.

Each year the festival welcomes many special guests, from internationally renowned chefs to celebrated writers and critics, to provide a huge range of exciting, informative and downright delicious entertainment. Local and national food heroes include top local and regional chefs - names such as Richard Bertinet, Romy Gill, and Angela Hartnett will be appearing alongside TV and radio personalities, Matt Tebbutt, wine experts Susy Atkins (Sunday Telegraph, Saturday Morning Kitchen), Fiona Beckett (The Guardian), Will Lyons (The Sunday Times) and award-winning Tim McLaughlin-Green from Sommeliers Choice.   

One of the festival organisers told us: “We want to provide a great visitor experience for all and a key part of this is making sure everyone feels invited. Keeping entry free helps create a much more inclusive event and contributes greatly to the festival’s unique atmosphere.

“The festival serves up an appetising menu of exciting and enjoyable food and drink encounters to suit all tastes with over 100 of the finest local and regional food and drink producers exhibiting. Stallholders are hand-picked by the festival with over 70% from Devon and most others from within the South West.

“It’s of the utmost important to us that the festival retains a local feel, promoting the very best of what is on offer on our own doorstep here in Devon.”

To find out more about the events on offer visit: https://www.dartmouthfoodfestival.com/