‘Food, Glorious Food’: Banbury's Food and Drink Festival makes a triumphant return

Jasmine Gilbert tastes some rum cake at the Caribbean Store with Jessica Hutchings holding the samples.

Banbury’s popular Food and Drink Festival made a successful return on Sunday (August 21).

Around 100 traders set up in the town’s Market Place for the return of the Banbury Food and Drink Festival, the various stalls offered treats and flavours from around the world.

The trader’s stalls in the Market Place were stacked high with a wide variety of tasty eats and drinks, and shoppers were faced with mouth-watering choices and free samples as they browsed the displays at the busy food fair.

Cooking demonstrations by the celebrity chef Paul Da Costa Greaves were well attended and audiences were able to take home new ideas for exciting meals. Da Costa Greaves also found time to talk to the audiences before and after his shows.

Celebrity chef Paul Da Costa Greaves entertains the audience at the Banbury Food and Drink Festival.

The alfresco eating was popular amongst visitors and tables and chairs were set out in the Market Place to enable shoppers to relax, eat, and drink the many foods that were available. Hundreds of people wined and dined in the fresh air, enjoying the sunny weather and sampling the goods they’d just bought.

The musical entertainment came from four fabulous live acts, the festival gave local solo performers the chance to show their talents. Musicians Leigh Chambers, Paul Proctor, Rebecca Mileham and Pete Watkins kept the crowd entertained throughout the afternoon’s festivities.

Visitors to the festival described it on social media as “well organised and a great atmosphere” and “a wonderful event with so many people there” and many expressed their anticipation for next year’s Food and Drink Festival.

Photos from the event can be found here.