UK food festivals

Remember when people in Britain turned their noses up at garlic and called it 'foreign muck'? Not any more. Now they celebrate it.

Then there is the energetic Big Feasterval (above) in England's usually quiet Cotswolds,â€¨ 25 – 27 August 2017â€¨. Every year, Blur’s bassist-turned-cheesemaker Alex James opens up his farm in the Cotswolds for the Big Feastival.

The aptly named festival really is a feast for all the senses, as up on the bill of celebrity chefs are Rick and Jack Stein, Antonio Carluccio, Nathan Outlaw, Neil Rankin, Romy Gill and Gizzi Erskine. There’ll be feasts and banquets, a food and drink market, street food, table sessions, a ‘cookaholics’ cookery school and Alex James’ famous double-decker cheese hub.â€¨

Getting there: Kingham is in the Cotswolds, an hour and 25-minute train journey from London.

If there ever was a niche food festival, then the Isle of Wight Garlic Festival from 19 – 20 August, 2017â€¨ (above left). Celebrating the endless versatility of the little white allium, the Great British Bake Off’s TV star baker Jane Beedle will be among the chefs giving cooking demonstrations and signing books.

Of course, it’s not just garlic, there’ll be other delicious local produce on offer, like meats, cheeses, honey and cider. Don’t miss the chance to tickle your taste buds and try some garlic fudge!â€¨

Getting there: The Isle of Wight sits four miles off the coast of Hampshire. Portsmouth in Hampshire is an hour and 40-minute train journey from London. Regular ferries run between Portsmouth Harbour and the Isle of Wight.

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Then there is the Port Eliot Festival, (above right) the sort of festival that feels like the world’s most magical secret garden party. Set in the rolling Cornish countryside, within the grounds of the quintessentially British Port Eliot House and Gardens, it’s so pretty that Napoleon once claimed it ‘the most beautiful place in England’. The festival is also renowned as a foodie lovers’ favourite, with the past roll call of chefs including everyone from Rick Stein to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Angela Hartnett. Taste some of the freshest just-caught fish from the atmospheric fairy-lit Oyster Shack in the walled garden.â€¨

Getting there: St. Germans is in Cornwall, south-west England, a three-hour and 40-minute journey from London.

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