Food festival returns to North Devon

After being postponed earlier this year due to adverse weather conditions, the Eat Bideford Festival is finally back and ready to delight food lovers!

 On Saturday, 5 October, Bideford Quay will come alive with the sights and sounds of a vibrant food festival, showcasing the best in local cuisine from 10am to 4pm. 

This free one-day event, sponsored by Torridge District Council, promises to be a feast for the senses.

With over 50 food and drink stalls lined up, attendees can look forward to sampling a fantastic array of products sourced primarily from within a 30-mile radius of Bideford. 

The festival aims to highlight exceptional local producers and their offerings, making it a must-visit event for anyone who appreciates quality food and drink.

This year marks the second occasion that Bideford has hosted the Eat Festival, which is renowned for bringing together a diverse range of vendors, workshops, and family-friendly entertainment.

In addition to the delicious stalls, there will be hands-on cook schools, interactive workshops, livestock displays, and plenty of competitions to keep everyone entertained. 

Plus, the event is 100% dog-friendly, allowing furry friends to join in the fun.

Festival-goers can expect to find a remarkable selection of local and regional products, with this year’s lineup featuring:

• Atlantic Spirit

• Boulton Spirit

• Bella Cannoli

• Boo Cottage Botanicals

• Churros El Quijote

• Clan Roastery

• Cocoa's

• Combe Brewing Co

• Crumbcoat Bakery

• Curworthy Cheese

• Deanie’s Delights

• Devon Wildlife Trust

• Doggy Bakes of Westward Ho

• Dough Bros

• Drinks Kitchen

• Exmoor Cider

• Events at Baykes

• Essence of Hartlan

• Farmhouse Pies and Pasties

• Flapjackery

• Freda's Peanut Butter

• GingerBeard's Preserves

• Gluten Free Picnic

• Green Man Cider

• Hobbs Chocolates

• Kumbites

• Landwich

• Little Oak Farm

• Lucho Bakes

• Lundy Island

• Nanny Wendy's Fudge Kitchen

• Nutts Scotch Eggs

• Riverford Organic Farmers

• Quantock Steamers

• RSPB

• Scone Baby

• Smoke on the Waters

• Stanbury Wild Game

• The Cheese Connection

• The Exmoor Feasting Company

• The Heritage Cure

• Torview Wines

• The Braai Pit

• The Local Scoop

• The Wife and I Sausage Co LLP

• The Culmstock Chilli Co

• West Country Dim Sum Company

• Wicked Wolf Gin

• Wilson’s Kitchen

• Wok 'n' Roll

• Wrapped

• Venn Valley Vineyard

The Gazette caught up with some of the vendors going to the event. 

Lucho Bakes:

Founded by Luciano Soto Rodriguez, Lucho Bakes has quickly become a staple in Venn Valley Winery, Landkey since its inception on April 1, 2023. 

Specialising in sourdough baked goods crafted from organic ingredients, with local wholemeal flour sourced from Chittlehampton's The Waterers' Working Horses.

"We are the only sourdough bakery you can find on the day being part of the market," Luciano shared. 

Known for their quality and popularity among followers, attendees flock early to their stall to secure their favourite treats. 

With 11 wholesalers across North Devon and Torridge, plans for expansion include additional wholesalers, a shop, preorder system, delivery boxes, and sourdough baking classes. 

Torview Wines:

Torview Wines, established in 2007 by Tim Gorwan, emerged from the ashes of Foot and Mouth, transforming a "dirty farm" into a thriving vineyard and winery. 

Inspired by New Zealand's vineyard practices, Tim's expertise, gained from a decade in prominent vineyards and training with the University of California, fuelled the venture's success. 

Today, Torview Wines fills 14,000 bottles annually, specialising in fruity red wines and traditional method sparkling wines, alongside rose and white varieties. 

Additionally, they manage six vineyards across Devon and Cornwall.

He said: “At EAT Bideford, attendees can taste our bone-dry wines, renowned for classic fruit flavours like strawberry and plum.”

Atlantic Spirit Gin:

Located in Bideford, North Devon, Atlantic Spirit Gin micro-distillery stands proudly amidst one of only three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the UK, just minutes away from the South-West Coast Path.

Owned by Sadie and Quinton, the distillery embodies a deep passion for the coastline, continually exploring new flavours and botanicals sourced locally along the coast.

Using traditional gin-basket infusion in Copper-Pot Alembic stills, Quinton distils their award-winning gins, renowned for their pure, delicate flavours that are uniquely clean and 

soft. With seven distinctive flavours, including the seasonal micro-batch No.7 Special Edition, visitors to the Eat Festival are invited to taste and chat about their unique gins.

Heading into their sixth year of business, Atlantic Spirit Gin prioritises environmental sustainability, powering their stills with solar energy and advocating for bottle reuse and refill to minimise their ecological footprint.

The Eat Bideford Festival is a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with the local food scene and explore the culinary treasures North Devon has to offer.