Bournemouth is to host its first food festival on July 12-13, focusing on regional and national food.
The Bournemouth World Food Festival (BWWF) will be held in residential neighbourhoods Charminster and Winton, and will include a parade, stalls, performing artists and a school cookery competition. Restaurants, delicatessens and food retailers will do special festival menus during the event.
BWWF trustees’ chair Sonia Butler said: “We want to encourage an interest in regional British food and music, as well as taking advantage of the many cultures and cuisines thriving in Bournemouth.”
The event will showcase local talent, schools, restaurants, farms and farm shops, while cultivating an international perspective by inviting embassies and overseas participants.
In the 1950s and 1960s, immigration from Portugal and other southern European countries into Bournemouth brought Mediterranean cafes and restaurants. Polish delicatessens are now establishing themselves in the town.
“Little is known about how British farmers are meeting this new demand for a Mediterranean diet, so the festival will be an opportunity for farmers to showcase traditional crops and new and exotic gear,” says organiser Boima Rogers, who in the 1990s managed a campaign promoting British vegetables.
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