1. East Anglian Beer & Cider Festival, August 25 - 30
Coinciding with the town’s annual food and drink festival over the August bank holiday weekend, the 29th East Anglian Beer & Cider Festival takes place in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Cloisters, and Garth in Bury St Edmunds. Six days in which to sample 200 real ales, 40 ciders, food stalls and enjoy a full programme entertainment on the sound stage.
Dogs (on leads) are allowed in the outside areas only. Assistance dogs are permitted throughout the site. Information at burystedmundsbeerfestival.com
2. Bury St Edmunds Food and Drink Festival, August 29 and 30
This very popular festival is back once again for the August Bank Holiday weekend. Organisers, Our Bury St Edmunds, promise two days of great food and entertainment for the whole family, with the event spanning Angel Hill, Buttermarket and Cornhill. Around 100 food traders (including street food vendors) from across the region are expected to attend and there will be cooking demonstrations by festival favourite and former Ready, Steady, Cook chef Paul Rankin, former soap star Sean Wilson, plus locals Maria Broadbent from Casa and Zak Deakins from 1921. The festival is free. Information at ourburystedmunds.com
3. Newmarket Food and Drink Festival, September 11 and 12
This event has moved for 2021 to a new location in the grounds of The Jockey Club Rooms, forming a part of the Henry Cecil Festival. Free to attend, it will bring together 60 producers from around East Anglia, alongside bars, family entertainment and live music. Chefs including Rosemary Shrager will be giving demonstrations across the two days. Entry is free. Information at newmarket.gov.uk
4. Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival, September 25 & 26
One of the region's best loved food and drink events, the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival, is promising a stellar line-up of chefs, producers, and family friendly activities for the weekend September 25 and 26.
Last year, the festival at Snape Maltings was pared down due to Covid, but this year it's back to its vibrant self with around 100 food stands and a wealth of new features never before seen at the event. An interactive family area and family stage has now been incorporated into the packed weekend programme, as well as food photography and wild cooking activities. Music, masterclasses, a street-food courtyard, family meadow and The Adnams Experience, will also feature. This year’s event will also have a much more ‘alfresco’ atmosphere, with an emphasis on large open spaces, rather than marquees.
This year's line-up of acclaimed chefs includes a significant number of women, with the likes of BBC Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers OBE, journalist and chef Rhavinder Bhogal, vegetable gardener and cook Anna Greenland, and local favourite and former TV chef, Emma Crowhurst. Other participating chefs who will be delivering workshops and Q&A sessions include Galton Blackiston, Joe Hurd, Mitch McCulloch, Olia Hercules and Rachel de Thample.
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Numerous East Anglian food and drink businesses will be there for the two days, including favourites such as Aspall, East of England Co-op, Niche Cocktails, Munchy Seeds, Pump Street Chocolate, Stokes Sauces, Tiptree, Two Magpies Bakery, The Wild Meat Company, and Valley Farm Vineyards. And the festival ‘Fringe Events’ are also back, taking place around the county in the days either side of the main weekend. Check the festival website for the full schedule as it is announced.
Festival organiser Jess Brown said they had spent the last year thinking really hard about how to create a bigger and better event that also feel wholly safe and welcoming to people only now getting back to attending large events. “The emphasis this year is really on being outside," she says, "being family-friendly, and telling the ‘full story’ around food, with discussions and activities related to food photography, technology, sustainability – and of course, lots of delicious things to try and buy.”
A shuttle bus will run between Aldeburgh and the festival setting, and parking is free on-site. For information about what’s happening throughout the festival weekend, plus buying tickets (£10, children under 15 go free) visit the festival website at aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk
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