We’ve just revealed a jaw-dropping programme of over 100 events for 2015! All over Bristol, dozens of individuals, groups, organisations and businesses – united by their passion for good food – will come together to stage a food event unlike any other.
Supported by First Great Western, Food Connections is the flagship food event for Bristol 2015, European Green Capital. Having attracted around 185,000 participants in 2014, Food Connections aims to change how we think about food and how we eat by, ‘Bringing people and good food together’.
Our programme of events is divided into six themes: land and growing, feasting and festivities, get cooking, brain food, families and wellbeing.
Food Connections will kick off with the BBC Food and Farming Awards on April 30th, with celebrity chefs like Cyrus Todiwala, Thomasina Miers, Giorgio Locatelli, Richard Corrigan and Angela Hartnett coming to town to celebrate the best of British food and the people who grow, make and supply it.
Over the May Bank Holiday Weekend, we’ll be taking over the city centre with a packed programme of free and ticketed events including a producers market on College Green, a special edition of the Harbourside Market, a street food market in Millennium Square, Eat Drink Bristol Fashion in Queens Square, a pop-up dining emporium, the Thatchers Cider trail, and the Grow Festival, supported by Riverford on College Green, offering inspiration and advice to get people growing their own food at home.
Also on College Green is the new food frontiers event, hosted in collaboration with First Great Western and the Seed Fund, offering new food producers from across the South West the opportunity to win £100,000 package of packaging design and business consultancy and a contract with First Great Western. Judges include Riverford founder, Guy Watson and Observer journalist, Lucy Siegle.
The BBC will host a programme of live talks and recordings in the IMAX Theatre at the Aquarium. They include BBC Radio 4 programmes such as Farming Today, Costing the Earth and The Food Programme; an event looking at the ‘past, present and future’ of food on the BBC and special food-themed radio programmes featuring, among others, Adrian Chiles, Rick Stein, Simon Hopkinson and Diana Henry.
And that’s just for starters! All over Bristol, a diverse programme of Food Connections events will turn the whole city into one huge celebration of good food for eight days.
Naturally, eating will be central to the Food Connections celebrations with a whole host of dining experiences, supper clubs and pop-up restaurants to choose from including: an event showcasing flavours from the international Slow Food movement’s “Ark of Taste” which highlights the world’s foods at risk of extinction, with Giorgio Locatelli, Thomasina Miers, Tom Hunt and Paula Macintyre; a Three Rivers banquet, designed by the award-winning House of Gastrophonic and Flinty Red, using the finest ingredients from the land around the Frome, Severn and Avon rivers and a communal ‘Eat-In’ on College Green where Bristol’s food movers, growers, chefs and members of the public will discuss the state of our food system over a huge pot-luck lunch.
There are also lots of events to inspire people to ‘Get Cooking’ with talks, workshops and demonstrations for cooks of all ages and abilities covering everything from butchery to bakery to cooking from a food bank box.
Families will be spoiled for choice at Food Connections with events designed to inspire the next generation to question where their food comes from and to make the connection between nutrition and nature.
As part of the ‘Families’ programme former Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen, will take young audience members on an adventure into language and food for a special edition of BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth; children will discover the joys of cooking in the ‘Get Cooking’ pod at the city centre GROW Festival and a citywide search to find the Young Chef, Young Baker and Young Grower of the Year is already well underway.
Food Connections also places a huge emphasis on community events, with people from all walks of life getting involved and staging their own events across the city. A Spice Festival on St. Marks Road in Easton will celebrate all things ‘spice’ from history to health benefits with very special guest Claudia Roden; worshippers at the Sikh Temple and the Polish Church will welcome visitors to break bread with them; Southmead will stage its own version of ‘Ready, Steady, Cook!’ and Lakota in St.Pauls will host ‘It’s a Bristol Ting’ with music, street food and a jerk chicken competition.
Clare McGinn, Head of BBC Radio and Music Production in Bristol, says: “The BBC has a key role in the festival - the idea of connecting the city through its unique food culture under one big umbrella came from the BBC in 2012, inspired by the unique Bristol BBC partnership agreement. Bristol is the first city to have an official partnership with the BBC.”
“These events are only the tip of the iceberg!” said Lorna Knapman, Festival Director. “There are over 100 events, all over the city, and each one is completely unique. Food Connections has a serious message: we must think about the future and how we’re going to feed our ever -growing population in a way that won’t destroy the planet.
“But good food should be fun and it should be accessible to all. It should bring people together. Our programme of events is designed to provoke thought in a fun, engaging and meaningful way.”
You’ll find full details of all Food Connections events on our ‘What’s On’ section or you can download a PDF of our printed programme HERE.