A new kind of food festival based on the principles of the Slow Food movement is set to delight London foodies next year, with an innovative approach to introducing the producer to the consumer.
The Real Food Festival is being billed as the first of its kind in the UK, with producers exhibiting by invitation only and subsidies awarded to encourage interaction with both the trade and the public.
The four-day format will focus on food standards and, in particular, provenance and sustainability in the UK and around the world.
The aim is to bring producers and consumers together to celebrate good, clean, fair food.
Hundreds of small producers from the UK and abroad will offer visitors the opportunity to learn about, taste and buy their products, according to organisers, and a range of interactive features will educate and stimulate debate on food choices.
The festival will feature a food market showcasing hundreds of small, artisan producers from the UK and overseas, a wine fair consisting of more than 100 small producers of quality wines, and a cookery school where visitors will have hands-on tuition from chef Barny Haughton at the Bordeaux Quay in Bristol.
A chefs’ theatre will feature some of the UK’s most renowned and respected chefs, and a small selection of the UK’s most exciting restaurants who will be serving signature dishes.
Lyndon Gee, chairman of the producer selection committee for Real Food and director of Slow Food UK, said: “The Real Food Festival promises to celebrate the diversity of modern artisan food, from producer to plate. I’m delighted the festival is embracing the Slow Food principles of good, clean and fair.”
