Celebrate the revival of
British food culture
In Association with the Elizabeth David Estate
Exploring our past and championing our future with the finest food and drink of the South Downs & Coast.
At Stansted Park
Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, PO9 6DX
Starts at 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM
September 14– 15, 2024
With Dame Prue Leith and Thomasina Miers, OBE
The South Downs Food Festival will be launched by Dame Prue Leith in September, bringing together food enthusiasts, chefs, food writers, campaigners and artisan producers for a weekend of gastronomic delight, stimulating talks, and delicious events. Scheduled for September 14-15, 2024, this inaugural festival will feature a rich array of food and drink from across the South Downs and beyond.
A Feast for the Senses
Surrounded by the forests and parkland of the Stansted Park estate in the South Downs National Park, the festival will indulge in the finest Sussex and Hampshire produce, gourmet dishes, and locally brewed beverages. The festival will host a “street” of over 40 artisan producers, a ‘Stansted Arm’s Pub’, cookery demo tent, live music, wood-fired catering, picnics, chef’s table and Tea on the Terrace. The festival is a chance to explore local produce, from wild venison to hedgerow walks, pasture-fed beef to grilled corn-on-the-cob. It’s a celebratory harvest festival of local food and drink.
STALL HOLDERS
Wooden Boards
Peter Leslie
Petersfield
Ice Cream
Whippy Ice
Wooden Bowls
Adam Lafosse
Idsworth, West Sussex
Cheese
Ripe Cheese
Wimbourne
Festival Themes
There will also be a series of talks in the spectacular Travelling Barn on the ‘British Food Revival’ inspired by Elizabeth David, the post-war food writer, run by the journalist and author, Rachel Cooke. On day one, Cooke will host discussions with the writers Diane Purkiss and Prue Leith. On day two, the ‘Future of Food’ will look at how we feed ourselves while protecting our environment. There will be discussions between Thomasina Miers, chef, restaurateur & writer, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Alex Briggs, Weald to Waves manager, and Peter Gladwin, chef, writer, restaurateur, and Nutbourne vineyard owner.
Exploring our past and championing our future with the finest food and drink of the South Downs & Coast.
Highlights of the Festival
The Big Lunch
Join us for the South Downs Festival THE BIG LUNCH in support of Rowans Hospice (all profits going to Rowans) on Saturday 14th Sept at 1pm in the Stansted Arboretum. Tickets are £70 and can be purchased at eventbrite.com with your festival ticket. More
Tastings
Charcuterie, English Sparkling, Sussex Cheeses, Organic wines – meet the producers, find out how the food and drink was created and taste what makes them special.
Sustainability Focus
How do we combine modern farming and creating food with protecting our environment? Discover the people who are making a difference to our local chalk streams while working with farmers, from the Western Sussex Rivers Trust to , Isle of Wight based Ellen MacArthur Foundation is working on a global scale to promote a circular economy for food. Any surplus food from the festival will be gathered and redistributed by UK Harvest.
Chef Demos
Thomasina Miers heads up the Demo tent, with wood-fired inspired cookery demos on the Big Green Egg and OFYR grill, a Hambledon Vineyard dish by Michelin-starred chef Nick Edgar, a venison butchery class and discussion on wild game, sourdough bread-making and a pickling demo, this will be delicious entertainment.
The Street
This is a truly South Downs market, with over 30 Sussex and Hampshire food and drink producers, from Chalkstream trout to farm charcuterie, vinegars to kimchi, Stansted honey to horseradish sauce, and of course, plenty of gin, beer and wine. Shopping has never been such fun!
Family-Friendly Activities
Hedgerow foraging walks, a dedicated kids’ zone with cooking, face-painting and a coconut shy; the festival is perfect for families looking to enjoy a day out together.
Local Lunch
Choose between wild venison, pasture-fed beef, wood-fired pizza, vegetarian salads, sushi, crepes and more with grills lit and charcoal smoking.
Elizabeth David Exhibition
Auberon Waugh once said that food writer Elizabeth David would get his vote as the single person most responsible for improving British life in the twentieth century. We can attribute the post-war British Food Revival to Elizabeth David and her cook books and the festival will bring her kitchen back to life at Stansted Park. We have brought in her furniture, personal objects and papers into the glorious Edwardian kitchen. Visitors can now be in just the sort of space and atmosphere in which Elizabeth conceived her books, tested the recipes, cooked and entertained her friends and family. Stansted House admission including the Elizabeth David Exhibition will be half price during the festival (£5).
Live Music and Entertainment
The festival atmosphere will be enhanced by live performances from local bands ‘Superstrings’ and ‘Lady and the Dukes’ ensuring a vibrant and enjoyable experience for all ages.
TALKS
Over the two days we have lined up a stellar cast of speakers to give talks and hold panel discussions in the food festival’s big tent.
Dame Prue Leith will open the Festival and will examine Elizabeth David’s long-term influence on British food up to the present day with Johnny Grey, ED's literary executor. The historian and author of English Food (2022) Diane Purkiss will speak about ED's historical significance alongside the writer Rachel Cooke (Kitchen Person, 2023). They will be joined by Thomas Marks (Associate Fellow at The Warburg Institute) to talk about David’s cultural milieu and the relationship between food and art.
On day two we explore food, farming, health and the environment. We are excited to welcome the philosopher Julian Baggini to discuss the ideas in his forthcoming book How the World Eats. Alex Briggs, manager of Weald to Waves, will share his experience creating a network of wildlife corridors while also producing food, and Peter Gladwin will discuss sustainable vineyards and farm to fork. Beth Mander, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, will examine the 'Big Food Redesign Challenge' during the panel discussion with Thomasina Miers.
Schedule
TRAVELLING BARN
SATURDAY
-
Who Was Elizabeth David? - Johnny Grey & Thomas Marks @ 11:30
-
Dame Prue Leith Opening The South Downs Food Festival @ 12:00
-
Food Historian Diane Purkiss @ 12:40
-
Journalist & Food Writer Rachel Cooke Interviewed by Johnny Grey @ 14:00
-
Elizabeth David’s Art & Writing - Thomas Marks @ 15:00
-
Panel Discussion on Elizabeth David’s legacy – Dame Prue Leith, Thomas Marks, Artemis Cooper, Diane Purkiss, Johnny Grey @15:45
SUNDAY
-
How the World Eats – Julian Baggini @ 11:30
-
Panel Discussion: Fixing a Broken Food System – Thomasina Miers, Beth Mander from The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Julian Baggini @ 12:15
-
Thomasina Miers Cookery Demo @ 13:15
-
Rewilding. Are nature conservation and feeding a hungry planet mutually exclusive?
Harvey Jones @ 14:20 -
An English Vineyard Cookbook - Peter Gladwin @15:10
-
Panel Discussion on South Downs Food and Nature Recovery - Thomasina Miers, Alex Briggs, Peter Gladwin @15:45
DEMO TENT
SATURDAY
-
Wood Fire Cooking @ 11:30
-
Fair Game Project - Venison Butchery & Talk @ 13:30
-
Two and One Olive Oil Tasting.@ 15:00
SUNDAY
-
Brickhouse Cheriton - South Downs Sourdough @ 11:30
-
The Road From Karachi’s Chicken Jalfrezi @ 13:30
-
Sylt Pickling Demo @ 15:00
BAR & MUSIC TENT
Hedgerow Foraging Walks with Christine Iverson @ 11:30 Sat & Sun
SATURDAY
Superstrings @ 12:30
Ashling Park Wine Tasting (£5) @ 14:30
SUNDAY
Lady and the Dukes @ 12:30
English Wine with Alistair Gibson @ 14:30
