Bury St Edmunds gets its very own local food festival!

Being a fan of the Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival that takes place on the other side of the county, I've been lamenting that we are somewhat lacking in such events over here in West Suffolk  However today's great find has finally seen an end to all that navel gazing. For helping to launch the annual Bury St Edmunds festival this weekend was the Real Food & Beer Festival hosted by the Greene King brewery.

So armed with my trolley bag, two kids and a purse-full of cash, we hot-footed it along to suss out the food scene and catch up with some of our Suffolk....and er' um... Norfolk favourites too!

And we weren't disappointed.  The Greene King marquee was packed with a wide range of East Anglian suppliers selling soft drinks, salads, poultry, meat, condiments, pies, bread, cheeses.....and even crisps.

There was so much on offer and a whole range of tasting opportunities that we could have spent much longer at the food festival, but even with a short attention span courtesy of the kids, we still managed a couple of  hours. Here are just a few of the stands that we visited:

Our favourite local fudge supplier from Thurston, the very delicious Yum Yum Tree Fudge.

Munchy Seeds were on hand too and I managed to pick up a refill of my favourite granola - which is totally delicious topped with local honey, chopped fruit and Greek yoghurt....it really just has to be the best breakfast ever!

The chap from James White, producer of my favourite spicy Tomato Juice, BIG TOM, was very patient as we took the taste test on their latest juices. I was so impressed with their wide range of fruit and vegetable based juices, I took the opportunity to place an order for a home delivery of a mixed case of twelve bottles!

And talking of drinks, it will most definitely be Aspall's Cyder on the menu tonight, having picked up a bottle of the delicious Peronelle Blush.

And when it comes to sausages, well it can certainly be said that Suffolk isn't short of competition.  An early find was Jimmy's Farm, which you can see in the middle of the photo...

.....followed by the other well known Powters of Newmarket...

 ..... and a brand new discovery...The Sausage Tree, which is based in Earl Soham.

Some other new finds were the Suffolk Pasties, made by Fynn Valley Foods, who also happen to supply locally produced reduced fat sausage rolls to Suffolk's schools...

And the Suffolk Larder was there too, with its lovely jars of condiments!

There was also a range of stalls outside the marquee, including Paddy & Scott's coffee and Alder Tree ice-cream.  However we opted for one of the delicious looking tarts from The Suffolk Hamper...

....and some ice-cream from our local dairy in Thurston, called Criterion Ices....

Having had such a great time today...and eaten so well...I'm very tempted to return to the food festival tomorrow and explore all the other stalls that the children's impatience forced me to pass by.

I really hope that the organisers and stall-holders find the event to be a real success, as it would be great to see it return to Bury St Edmunds next year, and if they do, I hope there will be even more stalls selling their wares outside the marquee.

But why wait until next year Bury?   With so many local producers, it would be a wonderful opportunity to incorporate more produce in our town-centre shops or even in our bi-weekly market.  After all there seems to be such a great appetite for local food at the moment.

But for now, my hunger for a local food festival on my doorstep has most definitely been satisfied, and Greene King did such a tasty job of it, even playing host to a Cannon Brewery beer tent too!

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The Real Food and Beer Festival is being held at Greene King's Westgate Brewery Gardens and will also be open on Sunday 16th May, from 10am.  Tickets are £1 on the door.  More information can be found at the Bury St Edmunds Festival Website.

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