A food festival is a celebration of food.  They are normally held in city centres, parks; but can also be held in town halls and exhibition centres.  Whereas a music festival is where music is the focus, food festivals have food as the focus of all the events and they are in abundance here in the UK so finding one near you today, this weekend or next month won't be a problem.

What Can You Expect?

You can expect various activities all with food as the main ingredient. Depending on whether they have specific themes or not, food festivals always have stalls showcasing produce and food, often of the region where it's held.  The stallholders are usually the people responsible for growing, looking after or making the food and generally operate on a “try before you buy” policy.  This means you can try new flavours or ingredients or just enjoy some free samples.

Along with the stalls, there will usually be cookery demonstrations, giving you valuable cooking tips and advice.  Often, depending on the size or importance of the festival itself, these may even be performed by nationally or regionally renowned and popular chefs, and you may even see a  famous face or two from television.

In addition to the food-orientated stalls and entertainment, there is often live music or at the very least a DJ and plenty of other activities for the whole family, including children.

As they are established as a celebration with people in mind, you can expect a lot of visitors.  However, as everyone has the same goal and motivation for attending, there is normally a very jovial and friendly atmosphere.