Thame and Dyrham Park

September rounds off this year with two really inspirational locations for food festivals. Following last year's successful Thame Food Festival, this year's is even bigger as the whole town centre will be closed off, allowing more space for exhibitors and visitors alike. And, for the first time ever, we will also be at Dyrham Park, just off Junction 18 of the M4 near Chippenham on Sunday: a beautiful National Trust home and garden.

 THAME FOOD FESTIVAL 9-5 Saturday 29th September

Lotte Duncan, Patron

Thame Food Festival is a landmark event in the food calendar. It attracts visitors to the town from far and wide. This wonderful showcase for local artisan food and drink producers and retailers in the region is a celebration of everything that is right with food and is a great chance to enjoy a bustling, fun filled, FREE, family day out in the centre of this historic Oxfordshire market town.
Visitors can choose to watch local and celebrity chef demonstrations or hear expert opinion and talks on selected food topics. There are children's workshops, hands-on food making stalls and a huge variety of wonderful exhibitor food stalls to sample and buy from. Events also include a fantastic raffle, competitions, street music and street entertainment.
The Patron of Thame Food Festival is TV chef and writer, Lotte Duncan, and the wonderful Ambassador is 'The Very Hungry Local Frenchman', Raymond Blanc. This rich vein of expert knowledge and food passion is enhanced by a wealth of food specialists and producers, and a great team of organisers. 
We were lucky enough to meet Raymond Blanc recently, at the 5th Anniversary of Brasserie Blanc, in Leeds, who we are proud to supply. As you can see, Wendy was putting her best foot forward that day...

Rupert Parsons, Raymond Blanc, Wendy Preston

DYRHAM PARK FOOD FESTIVAL 10-4 Sunday 30th September

With barely a pause for breath, we then zoom down the M4 overnight to set up our gazebo at the enchanting National Trust location of Dyrham Park for the latest Love Food festival.
The Love Food market will be packed full of spicy chorizo, freshly ground coffees, salt marsh lamb, dark chocolate brownies, local ales, seasonal fruit and vegetables, sloe wine, award winning sausages, chutneys, hand crafted goods and much more. The picnic area will also delight, with an excellent selection of street food providing some great lunch. Wash this down with award-winning cider and the Festival's much loved soundtrack and this will make for a very great Sunday.

Free children's activities for all ages will also be provided as Love Food Festival will be supporting the National Trust's "50 Things to do before you are 11¾" campaign, encouraging children to become less sofa-bound and get back out into the countryside.

For more details on both these events, do click on the links above which include maps and schedules.