Food Festival

Food, drink, shopping and fun for all the family make Saltburn the place to be on Saturday 28th June. The Tees Valley Food Festivals’ main food and shopping site will be in front of Somerfield supermarket, Saltburn between 10.00 am and 4.00pm.

The stalls will be showcasing fine local food, artisan crafts and drink. Several stall holders will be cooking foods to eat hot off the stall, as well as stalls offering organic meats, plants and herbs galore, creative house ware, beautiful jewellery, and local brewers – Pinchinthorpe Hall and of course one of our most popular stalls, Skinningrove wines with their fabulous English country wines - to try before you buy!

For inspiration (and a little relaxation) Northumbrian Larder and Food First are providing a demonstration Kitchen Theatre in the market arena. Chefs will be demonstrating cooking techniques and giving you their top tips all day long. Kicking off at 10.00am we have butchery and BBQ cooking/ a quick course on filleting fish /Traditional English cooking with a twist/Thai and Laos fragrant salads and soups. Finishing the day will be food writer and local deli owner Sheila Beswick cooking with shellfish and simple suppers.

If you have children follow the balloons to the Marquees at the bottom of Diamond Street. Waiting here will be The Community Animators in the story tent and Melanie Postill in the Arts and Crafts Tent. There will be plenty of hands on activities to get involved with or you can just chill out in the story tent and let your imagination run wild.

In addition to the festival Saltburn itself proudly boasts its great array of independent shops selling everything from fishing rods to surfboards, Barbour jackets to diamond rings. Plenty of cafes, restaurants and pubs are on hand to fuel your soul and help make your day a relaxing one.

Food First is the new social enterprise which held its first Saltburn market this year. It is supported by about 20 East Cleveland and North Yorkshire based retailers, producers, gardeners and cooks. They aim to encourage and promote the benefits of locally grown food, and show that the North East can join in with the rest of the country when it comes to celebrating what’s grown locally.

Their first Easter Food Market withstood gales that cancelled other food events across the country and so now they say that nothing can stop them – although they are hoping for bright sunshine and blue skies!

The Food Festival will see a mix of game products including wild boar, venison and rabbit. Organic meat will be big on the market with Low Lease Farm pork producers and Emma Padmores’ organic beef and lamb. Ledston Game will be making dozens of game and wild boar sausages and burgers ready for early barbeques.

To help the celebrations along organic wines from Skinningrove and locally brewed beer from Pinchinthorpe will be available for sale alongside vegetables, free range chicken, hand-made chocolate, pickled pink preserves, locally baked museli, hot- water- pastry pies with fifteen different fillings, natural and home-made skincare products, and plants and seeds for gardeners all aim to tempt local shoppers. In addition Real Meals will be cooking up treats to eat – Paella, spicy meatballs, vegetarian curries and a handful of salads, Ledston estate will be BBQ’ing there game sausages and burgers and Low Lease Organic Farm will be roasting organic pork joints ready for lovely pork sandwiches.

The market has been co-ordinated by Lorna Jackson from Food First. Lorna said: “We’re looking forward to a really good turn out, the festival has been supported by Tees Valley Tourist Board, Redcar and Clevelands Legi team and Northern Rail. So with all the lovely food, music from local bands , games for families, and a kitchen theatre there will be loads on offer for everyone. We’ve had speciality markets in Saltburn before, at Christmas and during the folk festival, so everyone who’s been to those knows how much Saltburn comes alive and just how good the atmosphere is.”

So, whether you’re a gourmet cook or just simply enjoy the atmosphere of markets, Saltburn will have something special to offer.