From tossing turnips to vegetable creatures, chickens and even goats, the Forest Showcase Food & Drink festival is an event with a lot more going on than most food & drink festivals.

It will be held in Speech House Hotel grounds, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire,on Sunday 4th October from 10am and will be opened by TV presenter & well known foodie Mr Gregg Wallace.

The recipe for the weekend? ……..well take over 80 top local and artisan producers, a big serving of stunning hot food, add a dash of real ale and wine, interesting talks, parent & child cookery sessions and lots of children’s activities, top chef demos, stir in a few competitions with lashings of excellent live music, and arts & crafts. Mix all this together to make a lovely foodie family day out.

The Festival has attracted producers showcasing the best in local, seasonal and speciality food and drink. It’s a great opportunity to get a real taste of the best of the area. With tasty treats ranging from handmade scotch eggs, freshly baked artisan breads, locally brewed beers, award winning preserves, farmhouse ciders, cheeses, homemade cakes & pastries and much more.

The main chef demo area hosts great local chefs so everyone can pick up top foodie tips, & we are ‘going Nuts’ with Yvette Farrell from Harts Barn Cookery School following on from our squirrel burger competition last year!, we will also be hot smoking salmon & feeling fruity with VQ Country wines.

Through talks, short films, walks, demonstrations and discussions, the new Resilient Futures strand of the Forest Showcase will highlight how people are collectively empowering themselves to provide for the future whilst also respecting our environment.

After you’ve done your foodie shopping, sit out enjoying tasty hot food, a refreshing drink (or two), with great live music including some of the bands that created such a stir at the recent Coleford Music Festival. The Rumble will be playing as well as our festival favourites the Paris Jazz Cafe Swing Band.

The event will feature children’s activities with entertainment throughout the day, there are also plenty of free food related arts workshops and parent & child cookery sessions. With a selection of arts & crafts on display along with green ideas on composting, a vintage cider press crushing apples, tips on vegetable growing & keeping bees this really is an event worth visiting, so come with empty tummies & we promise you will be full to bursting when you leave.