Mouths at the ready for Arundel food festival

Arundel’s third annual food festival is set to open its doors this Saturday (October 20) and in spectacular style, too.

Already set to be the biggest one yet, with around 50 different attractions taking place throughout the festival, the event will kick off with a bumper farmers’ market, in High Street.

It will feature an impressive 40 different stalls showcasing some of the best fresh produces West Sussex has to offer.

From vegetables and fruits, to chutneys, wines, cheeses and meats – there will easily be something that will set the taste buds into overdrive.

As if that wasn’t enough, the morning will also see Ginger’s Kitchen offering a tasting of its latest products inside Pallant of Arundel, between 10am and 2pm, and the Sage Restaurant, in Tarrant Street, offering a cheese-making demonstration, from 11am until 4pm.

Norfolk Arms Hotel will also be hosting its own wine taster during the afternoon.

If you’ve got some spare vegetables lying around, or perhaps a couple of jars of jams and chutneys stowed away in the cupboards somewhere then maybe Saturday’s “veg swap” could be right up your street.

From 2pm, the town square will come alive with wannabe traders visiting the town to barter their home-grown and home-made goods, during the free event.

Other activities taking place include a wild food foraging demonstration, with the Arundel Forest Knights and a food scrabble morning at the Osteria, in High Street.

The festival will continue throughout the week, with Sunday having just as many sights to get the mouths watering as the opening day.

The second day will see visitors to Arundel invited to have a more hands-on experience with an array of activities taking place throughout the morning and afternoon, beginning with a traditional apple-pressing, in Tarrant Street.

Community chef Robin van Creveld will be using seasonal ingredients to create some scrumptious snacks during the press.

He is urging everyone to come down with their own apples and join in the fun.

Arundel’s Agenda 21 will be running a static bike in a bid to help residents use pedal power to help reach their five-a-day in smoothie form.

Jonathan Brantigan, chairman of the festival, said: “If you think a food festival is simply a collection of stalls in the street for a day or two, then think again.

“There will of course be the farmers’ market but there will also be opportunities to get out into the countryside and see behind the scenes through vineyard visits, open days at local farms, wild food foraging, and even visits to your local industrial estate to see where and how our food is manufactured.”

Guides are available in different shops throughout the town.

For a full listing about the various activities taking place during the festival, see www.arundelfoodfestival.org.uk