Ask someone to name a UK festival and they will name a music one. Yet there are far more food, drink, beer and cider festivals in Britain across the year, and for a lot of people they are a better proposition: cheap or free entry, no camping, easy to reach, and often walkable from a train station.
They also run when music festivals do not, which makes them the answer to what to do between October and April.
The main types
Town and city food festivals
Usually a weekend, often free to enter, built around producer stalls, street food, demonstration kitchens and local restaurants. Some British market towns have built genuinely national reputations on theirs, with Abergavenny and Ludlow among the best known. These are the easiest festivals in the country to attend, because you can turn up, eat and go home.
Beer and cider festivals
Typically ticketed, indoor or marquee-based, and organised around trying a wide range of drinks in small measures. Cider festivals are concentrated in the West Country and the Welsh borders, and beer festivals happen in almost every town at some point in the year. Many are run by volunteers for local branches of CAMRA or by individual breweries.
Wine, gin and spirits events
Usually urban, often in the autumn and winter, based around tastings and masterclasses. Smaller and more structured than the beer equivalents, and a good option for a cold weekend.
Single-subject festivals
Britain has an entire category of festivals devoted to one thing: cheese, chilli, garlic, asparagus, oysters, seafood, sausages, chocolate, curry. They are usually one-day, family-friendly and inexpensive, and they are frequently the best value day out on the whole calendar.
Harvest and seasonal events
Apple days in the autumn, farm and county shows in the summer, and Christmas markets and craft fairs from late November onwards.
When they happen
Food and drink events are spread far more evenly through the year than music festivals. Spring brings the seasonal produce events, summer the shows and street food festivals, September and October the harvest and cider season, and November and December the Christmas markets. There is something worth going to in most months.
What to expect on the day
- Entry is free at many town food festivals and ticketed at most drink events, where the ticket often includes a glass and sometimes tokens.
- Cash and card. Most stalls take cards now, but small producers at rural events sometimes do not, and signal can be poor.
- Go early. Popular stalls sell out, and the demonstration kitchens fill up.
- Take a bag. You will buy more than you intended to, and a cool bag is genuinely useful for cheese and meat.
- Dogs and children are welcome at many outdoor food events but not at most indoor drink ones. Check first.
- Plan the journey home if you are going to a drink festival. These events are usually well served by public transport for exactly this reason.
Why they suit people who have given up on camping
No tent, no mud, no three-day commitment and no ticket bought eight months in advance. If the appeal of a festival for you is the atmosphere, the discovery and the day out rather than the endurance, the food and drink calendar is where most of the value in British festivals currently sits.
Frequently asked questions
Are UK food festivals free to enter?
Many town and city food festivals are free or very cheap, with the cost coming from what you eat and buy. Beer, cider and wine festivals are usually ticketed.
When is the UK cider festival season?
Cider events cluster around the autumn harvest, particularly September and October, though larger beer and cider festivals run throughout the year.
Are food festivals suitable for children?
Outdoor food festivals generally are, and many run children's activities. Indoor drink-focused events often restrict entry to over-18s.
Do food festivals happen in winter?
Yes. Christmas markets, craft fairs and indoor drink events fill the calendar from late November through to the new year.
