Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival Fringe

Over 70 farmers, local food producers, farm shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants have contributed to a jam-packed programme of farm and wildlife walks, cookery and butchery demonstrations, dinners and behind-the-scenes events for the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival Fringe.

You can see the full programme of Fringe Events on the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival web site

The Fringe Festival runs from September 26 - October 4 and has been generously funded by Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

We are particularly grateful to Jason Gathorne-Hardy and his Alde Valley Food Adventures in association with White House Farm. Once again Jason is making a major contribution to the Food & Drink Fesitival Fringe with a series of unique events at White House Farm, Great Glemham in the upper Alde Valley. These events include:

Amazing Grazing in the Alde Valley
A two week exhibition in the Lambing Barns at White House Farm. Come & join a celebration of local crafts, farming, landscape, villages & churches in the beautiful Alde Valley of East Suffolk.
Friday 25 - Friday 9

Saturdays 10.00 - 5.00, Sundays 12.00 - 4.00, Tuesday – Friday 10.00 - 6.00 (closed Monday).

Wild Food Walk
1 1/2 hour guided walk and wild food lunch.
Saturday 26; 11.00 - 2.00
£25 pp for 1 1/2 hr guided walk & wild food lunch, Children under 16 £8, under 5s free

Wild Food Feast
Wild Food Supper and Music BYO Wine / Beer
Saturday 26; 6.00 - 11.00
£22 pp, Children under 16 £8, under 5s free

Festival Feast
A buffet feast from the farms of the Alde Valley, one of the UK’s most innovative and productive local food economies. Come and joins us for a feast of fresh seasonal farmed and wild foods, fires, woodland nature walk, farm videos, open farm art exhibition, music and Alde Valley Lamb barbeque. Autumn cordials and teas included. BYO beer and wine.
Saturday 3; 6.00 - 10.00
£22 pp, under 16s £8, under 5s free

White House Farm, Sweffling Road, Great Glemham

t: 01728 663531, e: riveralde@btinternet.com, www.foodadventures.co.uk

(NB: an incorrect phone number was printed on the flyers please call 01728 663531)

Other highlights of the Festival Fringe include:

• Cookery demonstrations with Fergus Henderson and Stuart Oetzmann of Metfield Bakery


• Behind the scenes tours at Pinney’s of Orford, James White, Munchy Seeds and Emmett’s of Peasenhall


• Farm walks at Maple Farm, Peakhill Farm and Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses


• Meet the producer events including an evening of East Anglian Cheese and Charcuterie organised by Lawsons Delicatessen in Aldeburgh

Real Food Festival - Suffolk producers where were you?

I made a rare trip to London at the weekend to visit the Real Food Festival at Earls Court. I love going back to London. It was home for over 10 years and I miss it more than I admit!

Bizarrely almost the first person I saw outside Earls Court was someone I'm more likely to see at Suffolk farmers' markets, Ian Whitehead from the Suffolk Salami Company. We're fans of their sausages and bacon (branded as Lane Farm) but I was pleased to try their chorizo which was delicious and my first purchase of the day.

Suffolk Salami was one of the few Suffolk food producers represented at the Festival, others were Munchy Seeds, Casa del Oli (olive oil) and Stark Naked Foods (pestos made with herbs grown on the family's 150 year old farm) and the big boys, Aspalls. I was disappointed not to see a stronger representation of Suffolk food and drink producers there and, with the exception of Aspalls, there was nothing there that was unique to Suffolk. Where were our micro-brewers, cheese-makers, beef or pork farmers?

Other regions were represented by their Regional Food Groups and clustered together - Wales had a very strong presence. Rumour has it that Tastes of Anglia, our own Food Group, didn't get the funding they needed to be there; but with stands costing as little as £200 each, I think that's a poor result. My friends at Grain Brewery sold so much beer they had to drive back to the Norfolk to get more to sell on the Sunday. Watch this space - next year Food Safari will be there and I'll bring as many of my friendly producers with me as I can to show the rest of the country what great foodie things are coming out of Suffolk.

In the meantime for a true taste of what Suffolk has to offer come to the fourth Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival on September 26-27, 2009. I'm going to be organising the programme of fringe events with producers, farm shops, delis, pubs and restaurants running September 26-October 4th.