The weather is finally picking up in Cardiff, and now the sun is shining it means it’s food festival season. From the 15th-19th April, Cardiff Queen Street was buzzing. The Great Cardiff feast had arrived and brought with it a packed line up of vendors.
From pulled BBQ pork, churros, ciders, Jamaican grill, dumplings, Greek food, loaded fries, chicken wings, hot dogs, burgers, there was so much food to choose from. And that’s not all; stalls were selling deli products, such as samosas, olives and an array of sweet treats to choose from, such as brownies and cakes. The food festival was free to walk around, and the prices were reasonable for good quality, freshly cooked food.
It was refreshing to see Queen Street busy, with the festival clearly bringing in tourism to Cardiff, and thankfully the weather was good for it. Majority of the stalls were local traders or independent businesses, and it was a delight to see so many people coming to support them. Bute Park was full of locals and visitors enjoying the fantastic food on offer.
I couldn’t resist some fried vegetable dumplings with a zingy chilli dip. What more could you want? Watch this space Cardiff is not through yet when it comes to bringing vibrant events and food to the city centre.
The Great Cardiff Feast appears to be the first of many food events to come. The touring Foodies Festival will be in Bute Park from the 9th - 11th May, and this is one of the UK’s largest touring food festivals. Celebrating drinks and good food, the festival is hosting celebrity chefs and musical headliners.
MasterChef champions and Bake Off stars have the opportunity to show off their cooking skills to the live audience. There will be a drinks experts running tasting sessions, and live music raising money for the charity Crisis. The Feast On festival is coming back to Bute Park this summer from 29th -31st May, described as a “feast that ignites the senses with every bite”.
The Cardiff Food and Drink Festival will also be returning to Cardiff Bay from the 3rd - 5th July.
This festival will offer more than just food, but live music, cooking demos, eating challenges, food tasting, wine tasting and food sustainability talks. Some of Cardiff’s finest eateries are already announced in the lineup, with Tuk Tuk (Crwys Road), Bodega (Lakeside) and Pasture (town centre) all taking part this year. While the tickets for entry are a little on the pricey side, the festival this year sounds like a good one, and not one to miss.
This is one of the most popular events in the Cardiff summer calendar, bringing together local produce and delicacies from around the world. It is free to walk around the festival. While the stallholders have not been announced yet, the producers’ fair, farmers market and street food piazza are all making a comeback.
There will also be a crafters market and bandstand with live music. So whether you’re a food fanatic, enjoy a cheeky drink in the sun or just fancy a day out, Cardiff has lots more exciting food events on the horizon to look forward to.