The West Country does like a food festival and the Sturminster Newton Cheese Festival (you couldn’t make it up…isn’t it just a perfect name?) is hard to beat with Morris Men, Real Ale, crafts, test your strength and cheese all on a late summer’s day.
It was a food lover’s heaven with unpasteurised cheddar stacked in a mammoth monument to cheese:
Little cairns of deliciousness dotted here and there:
Our two favourite things to eat with cheese were also represented.
Delicious olives stuffed with pimento:
and crisp local apples:
Of course, apples in this neck of the woods cry out to be incorporated into a delicious Dorset apple cake:
All swallowed down with a glass of cider, a pint of real ale, some freshly pressed apple juice or a quick shot of espresso:
A stroll through the craft tents to watch lace makers, spinners, felt makers and basket weavers at work, before lying in the sun eating pasties and apple pies while appreciating the leaping thighs and enthusiastic whoops of the Morris Dancers, made for a practically perfect day out!
Have you got a favourite food festival we should put in the Fab Food diary?
My mouth is watering!
You capture the atmosphere perfectly.
There is a wonderful event local to me this weekend, which sadly I’ll miss this year as we’re away. National Apple Day is celebrated at Bromham Mill, Bedfordshire this Sunday.
http://www.bedford.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/local_history_and_heritage/bromham_mill.aspx
Apple day is one of our absolute favourites and we will be at our local one on Sunday hoping to partake of more apple cake and freshly squeezed juice! What a shame you will be missing yours this year
I hope you have a lovely weekend wherever you are!
I love apples and cheese. I love that you are writing about food
What a very English post! Lovely pictuires and a gorgeous new blog you clever lady. I will stay tune. I like our farmers market (except for th meat smell) and my favourite bit is simply the mucky carrots. Nothing quite like micky carrots
Oh I SO want to go there! Sounds positively blissful.
You came to Stur’s cheese festival? You know I live here, right? You must’ve passed my DOOR!
So, yes, The Cheese Festival is my absolutely fave too.
Noooooo! I didn’t know! We were visiting friends who have recently moved from here to very near there! We need a meet over coffee and large cakes very soon!