The story so far…

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Wow… Excitement has turned into overwhelming awe at the support that the festival has received here at BFC HQ. So far around 175,000 people have visited the festival, either during the bank holiday weekend or at one of the many events held since, and there is still so much to come.

But first, let’s reflect on what has taken place so far. The festival launched on Thursday with the BBC Food and Farming Awards at St George’s. Jamie Oliver, Raymond Blanc and Mary Berry were all there to present an award, one of our food heroes Barny Haughton of the Square Food Foundation cooked delicious food made using produce from the finalists and then we officially opened the festival, including the Food Trail at the Eat Drink Bristol Fashion tipis.

But so much more has happened since then! Friday saw the first of our Cook ‘n Converse events, a mass beer goggles experiment at the University of Bristol and a packed Pizza Pandemonium at Harts Bakery.

The bank holiday celebrations began on Saturday as the city centre turned into a huge foodie celebration. The First Great Western Producers’ Market filled the Amphitheatre, Millennium Square was alive with street food vendors and revellers tapping their feet to the music, the BBC Hub kicked off in Waterfront Square, Anchor Square morphed into a children’s area and Slow Food took over College Green with yet more markets and a pop-up pizzeria.

As well as the bank holiday bonanza, other events that took place over the weekend included the Sikh Temple opening its doors on Sunday, a series of food career talks, which took place in At-Bristol, the Better Food Company took people on a Ploughman’s Day out and the Sustainable Food Trust hosted a huge Eat In on College Green among others.

While the weekend festivities may have ended, the festival action hasn’t. Tuesday saw the J3 Pop-up market, which slowed rush hour down as passers by jumped off their bikes and soaked up the atmosphere and local produce instead. No 1. Harbourside put on a free fish tasting, Square Food ran drop in and bake sessions, Averys held an Introduction to Wine Tasting and Jenny Chandler showed people how to eat their way to a healthier lifestyle, before the Sustainable Food Trust’s True Cost Accounting event, chaired by Xanthe Clay instigated some thought provoking conversation and debate at Paintworks.

Today, both the Canteen and No1. Harbourside are hosting events on the Food Trail, our second Cook ‘n Converse looks at cooking for the elderly, there is a Feast of film and philosophy with Julian Baggini at The Watershed, Radio Tapas from IntheDark and Micasa, urban gardening demos with River Cottage Canteen and so much more.

The festivities continue until Sunday 11th May and the festival has so much more to give. Visit the What’s on page and filter by day to find out more.

Finally, don’t miss your opportunity to sample some of Bristol’s finest food venues. The Food Trail features some cracking places to try, whether you are eating out or looking for somewhere to stock up on local ingredients. There are special events, menus, but also great discounts and special offers, including:

The offers all end on Sunday so make the most of them while you still can and don’t forget to show your map. For the full list of menus, events and offers available on the Food Trail, see here.

Here are some of the highlights so far, in pictures…

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