Everything you need to know about Harrogate Food and Drink Festival

Harrogate Food and Drink Festival will be returning to Ripley Castle over the August bank holiday weekend, 28th – 30th 2021.

The festival is a celebration of international cuisine, with independent bars and breweries, an expansive artisan market featuring local produce, craft and wellbeing businesses, the main stage with live music, entertainers and performers, and an extensive children’s activities programme.

After a successful June festival on The Stray, Harrogate Food and Drink Festival organisers are looking forward to being back for their second instalment:

“Being able to return to Ripley Castle this year is incredibly exciting – it’s such a gorgeous setting to spend the bank holiday, and we’ve planned an absolutely packed line up of food, music, entertainment and activities that will make the perfect family day out in the sunshine.” – Hannah Dewhirst, Festival Coordinator.

At the centre stage of the Harrogate Food and Drink Festival, there will be a variety of the most popular UK street food traders including traditional Greek, Italian, Indian and American cuisine, alongside modern twists on Japanese and Chinese dishes. Most traders will also be offering a vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free option.

The Artisan Market at Harrogate Food and Drink Festival will be showcasing over 60 local business owners and independent traders selling health and wellbeing products, handmade gifts, crafts, clothes and art, and a selection of brownies, cakes, flapjacks, cheesecakes, pies, sauces, alcoholic drinks, plus much more.

Local bar traders will also be at Harrogate Food and Drink Festival with specialty wine, cocktails, prosecco, cider and beer.

Award-winning Chef Demos at Harrogate Food and Drink Festival

For those attending Harrogate Food and Drink Festival and are looking for some exciting food-related activities, The Cookery Theatre will be taking centre stage after its initial success in 2019, with support from our team at the Yorkshire Food Guide.

The Ripley Castle event sees MasterChef the Professionals finalist Jono Hawthawne with fellow finalist and also Multistories collaborator Matt Healy, who serves rooftop tapas inspired plates, will both be joining Harrogate Food and Drink Festival, with a variety of dishes and skills to help you cook like a chef.

Also joining the festival will be The Grand York’s Cookery School Head Tutor Andrew Dixon, with cocktail masterclasses from Harrogate’s Slingsby Gin, and a host of multi-award-winning chefs from the region’s finest hotel and restaurants. If you’re looking for tips and tricks from Yorkshire’s best chefs, the demo tents are the place to be!

Harrogate Food and Drink Festival August Chef Demo Line Up

Saturday 28th August

• 12 pm | Pawel Cekala, West Park Hotel
• 1 pm | Craig Rogan, Dakota Grill
• 2 pm | Chris McPhee, The General Tarleton
• 3 pm | Three’s A Crowd, Cocktail Masterclass
• 4 pm | Mary Jane Walker & Rosie Wilkinson, CORA 

Sunday 29th August

• 12 pm | Natalie Firth, Just The Fox Kitchen
• 1 pm | Alex Wood, Punch Bowl Inn at Maron cum Grafton
• 2 pm | Kevin Gratton, Moss and Moor
• 3 pm | Slingsby, cocktail masterclass
• 4 pm | Mark Owens, The Owl

Monday 30th August

• 12 pm | Jono Hawthawne , Vice & Virtue
• 1 pm | Andrew Dixon, The Cookery School at The Grand York
• 2 pm | Masterchef the Professionals Finalist Matt Healy
• 3 pm | Jon Appleby , The Blue Lion, East Witton

Harrogate Food and Drink Festival has also prepared Additional activities for the whole family to enjoy, including animal exhibits, an inflatable land and a traditional funfair.

The backdrop to what is set to be a fantastic weekend at Harrogate Food and Drink Festival is the Main Stage, with deck chairs for attendees to lounge on while enjoying fantastic performances from the likes of Will Forrester, an experienced saxophonist of over 30 years, and Flat Cap Brass, who will be bringing a funky brass performance to Harrogate Food and Drink Festival, plus many more entertainers over the weekend.

Harrogate Food and Drink Festival is partnered with charity MIND and will be helping to raise money for their Harrogate team, which support those suffering from mental health difficulties. The charity will be holding its own arts and crafts activities over the weekend, as well as mindfulness sessions.

With excellent transport links, and dogs welcome, thousands are expected to join the feast over the August bank holiday weekend.

Tickets and info are available at https://harrogatefoodfestival.com/

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