Food festivals: Getting a slice of the action

The Fitzwilliam Malton estate has been in Naylor-Leyland’s family since 1713 and includes much of the residential and commercial property in Malton town centre.

He said: “I was getting involved a bit more in the family business and I came up to Malton as my father and the estate were trying to think of ways to promote the town.

“We came up with food as a theme as this is an agricultural area with great producers.

“It is something I am obsessed with. I am a keen amateur cook and I love coming up with my own recipes, so it wasn’t hard to get excited by the idea.”

When he launched the Malton Food Lovers Festival in 2009 it attracted 1,500 people.

Seven years on, the annual event now draws in excess of 30,000 visitors, thanks in part to chef Antonio Carluccio declaring Malton the Food Capital of Yorkshire when he was a guest at the festival in 2012.

Mr Naylor-Leyland decided to take the title and run with it and it is now regularly used to promote the town.

There is also a monthly farmers’ market and this month will see the return of the Game and Seafood Festival.

David Shields, Welcome to Yorkshire’s North Yorkshire area director, said: “Malton hasn’t got a major visitor attraction so it never had that draw but the creation of a food and drink festival created an awareness of the town and gave a boost to both existing and new businesses.”

But Malton is not unique in its quest to promote itself through its local produce. There are around 100 food and drink festivals of various sizes held annually in Yorkshire.

The explosion of these events in the last decade has led to increased tourism for the towns and cities in which they take place and a boost to local and regional economies.

Mr Shields said: “Food festivals are very important to the region. One, because they are brilliant events to showcase Yorkshire food and drink, but also because they are very popular with visitors, both inside and outside the county.”

Although festivals showcasing local produce can be traced back hundreds of years, it is only in the last decade that dedicated food and drink events have become big business.

Mr Shields said: “Over the last 10 years the television coverage of chefs and food has grown and the combination of cooking and food is very ‘in’.

“Also, people are now more aware of the importance of local food and supporting local producers.”

The shift in interest in local produce can be traced back to the devastating foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001, according to Mr Shields, which led to the UK losing billions of pounds and suffering a 10 per cent drop in overseas visitors.

“There was a move to support local food producers and especially the farming community,” he said.

The Dales Festival of Food and Drink in Leyburn was launched to help regenerate Lower Wensleydale following the crisis and now attracts over 12,000 visitors.

One of the region’s biggest festivals is York Food and Drink Festival – a 10-day extravaganza in September, which attracts around 400,000 visitors.

One of the newest events is the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival in Skipton, which made its debut in July with guest chefs the Hairy Bikers and James Martin.

Welcome to Yorkshire does not hold figures on how much these events contribute to the regional economy but the festivals and their knock-on effect have huge potential.

“People will see food at a festival and if they like it they will go along to buy it at their local farm shop,” added Mr Shield.

“Over the last five or six years the growth in farm shops has helped to promote food festivals and vice versa.”

He added: “Festivals also encourage visitors to come back to a town or city at other times.”

These events are of huge importance to the producers who showcase their wares, especially micro-producers.

“It’s a great opportunity to showcase their products and it opens up new markets for them as well,” said Mr Shield.

“Many people who started off exhibiting at food festivals five or six years ago have seen their businesses grow.”

The early success of Wold Top Brewery in East Yorkshire relied on it being a regional brewery with a strong local following, strengthened by its presence at local food festivals, including Malton.

The business has now earned a global following, with exports of 
bottled and cask beer accounting for 15 per cent of the company’s total turnover.

“Wold Top was a relatively small micro-brewery that has really moved forward,” said Mr Shield.

“But you also get bigger producers, like Wensleydale Creamery, who still support food festivals. They sponsored and exhibited at this year’s festival in Leyburn.”

While food and drink festivals continue to spring up all over the county, visitors are now looking for more than a taste of what’s on offer. Rather than coming just to shop and taste, people now want to actually make the produce.

“This will be the next stage – for people to physically have a go at preparing and making the food,” said Mr Shields.

There are a number of niche food and drink festivals, including the WinterFest Vegan Christmas Market in Leeds and the Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb in Wakefield, but Mr Shield believes that events which cover all aspects of food and drink will continue to dominate the scene, although eventually there will be a saturation point.

“We’re not there yet, but we will get to that ceiling,” he said.

“But the next thing will be showcasing local food in other places, like major sporting events such as the Tour de France’s Grand Départ and the Tour de Yorkshire.

“There are lots of other opportunities to promote and champion local produce.”

FESTIVAL DATES

2016

Sept 15-29: World Curry Festival, Bradford, www.worldcurryfestival.com

Sept 17: Hull Vegan Festival

Sept 24-25: Holmfirth Food and Drink Festival, www.holmfirthfoodanddrink.org

Sept 23 to Oct 2: York Food and Drink Festival, www.yorkfoodfestival.com

Oct 9: York Vegfest

Nov 27: WinterFest Vegan Christmas Market, Leeds Town Hall, veganlifestyleassoc.com

2017

Feb 17-19: Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb, Wakefield, www.experiencewakefield.co.uk

Apr-May: Lotherton Hall Food Festival

May 1-28: Leeds Indie Food Festival

May 27-28: Malton Food Lovers Festival, maltonyorkshire.co.uk

May 27-29: Great British Food Festival, Harewood House, Leeds, www.greatbritishfoodfestival.
com

June 2-4: Yorkshire Food & Drink Festival, Leeds

June: The Dales Festival of Food and Drink, Leyburn

June 17: Great Yorkshire Vegan Festival, Leeds

June: Halifax Food and Drink Festival

June 25: Homegrown Food Festival, Northallerton

June: Yorkshire Game Fair, Bedale

July: Wetherby Food Festival

July: Bridlington Seafood Festival

July: Horsforth Food and Drink Festival

July 16: Otley Food and Drink Festival

July: Saltburn Food Festival

July: Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival, Skipton

July: Scarborough Seafest Maritime Festival

Aug: Huddersfield Food & Drink Festival

Aug: North Leeds Food Festival

Aug: Foodies Festival, Harrogate, www.foodiesfestival.com

Aug: Cannon Hall Farm Food Festival, Barnsley

Aug, Oct: Filey Food Festival

Sept 9: Malton Game & Seafood Fest

Sept: Stirley Community Farm Food Festival, Huddersfield