Two of my favourite things came together this bank holiday weekend – the coast and food! The Foodies Festival is the UK’s biggest food festival and celebrates food from across the globe in a tour around the UK including Bristol, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Oxford, as well as one of my favourite places, Brighton. Your leading foodservice marketing agency reports back with the skinny on the all that took place!

This year saw Brighton’s largest celebration yet of amazing food, top chefs, new delicious drinks and a smattering of live music. The vibe was light and fun, the smells were tantalizing, and the food was outstanding.

With so many stands to see and so many options to choose from, a strategic circuit was needed to fully take in everything that was on offer. Even with my wingman in tow, I knew we wouldn’t be able to sample everything, but here is a little run down of the delights we decided upon:

The most delicious, if rather fiery, Goan Pork Curry Sausage Roll. The lovely man @rolamorrolls might have underplayed the chillie content if you ask me, but nevertheless if was a roll to remember for all the right reasons.

The Bao Bap in a Box from @BellyNBao was a taste sensation! Slow cooked soy caramel pork belly, umami dressing, kimchi and a fresh Asian salad in a bao bap a soft as a cloud. Perfect lunchtime pitstop, thanks guys!

The ultimate in loaded chips from @thechipsmyth. The menu looked phenomenal and if only I hadn’t eaten lunch already, I certainly would have indulged in the Bandera Chips (loaded with pork belly, feta, coriander and chilli)! Instead, I went for the far more conservative (please note the sarcasm level) ‘Cheesy Chips’ which were smothered in freshly grated parmesan, truffle mayo, pickled pink onions and fresh chives. It was a struggle as I am sure you can imagine, but I battled on through!

This being thirsty work, it was certainly time for some light refreshment and a new Frontier for me. Light, golden @FrontierLager went down a treat and could certainly be considered a session beer.

Nearing capacity, we ventured off to find some treats to take home for another day, as these foodie festival events don’t come around too often. So over to the @KinVodka stand to sample the delights of their Toffee Vodka. Having tried a few in my time, this one is most certainly the smoothest and as as a British brand (produced in the Lake District), it was the perfect gift to myself!

Finally, it would be wrong to leave without cheese. Just because it would! The Great British Cheese Company were offering some beautifully creamy samples of a range of their products, including Drunken Monk, Peri Peri Cheddar and Red Arrow (award winning Red Leicester) so thanks to @GBCheeseCo I came home with a truckle load of each!

Thanks to the organisers of the Foodies Festivals that have taken place and are due to take place across the UK, a fantastic event.

Keep reading! Read our Guide to Foodservice Marketing here.