>October Events / Events in Norfolk and Suffolk / Food and Drink / Tourist Attractions Norfolk and Suffolk October 10, 2017
From Smoothie Bikes to Sunday Brunch, the 2017 Aylsham Food Festival offered a smorgasbord of attractions for Norfolk foodies.
The Smoothie Bikes proved a great hit with youngsters who were able to use their pedal power to create delicious strawberry or pineapple drinks in just 30 seconds. Quite a few adults were tempted too.
The two bikes, on loan from North Norfolk District Council, were just part of the festival’s Saturday morning activities in the Town Hall which also featured ‘Rock in a Pot’, aimed at younger visitors who were invited to select ingredients to make up a recipe for rock cakes.
Elsewhere there were cookery demonstrations plus commercial stalls – complementing the Farmers Market outside in the Market Place – alongside Love Food Hate Waste and the Master Composters, both from Norfolk County Council.
This year’s festival started on Friday 6 October with Aylsham’s weekly Country Market in the morning, offering an extensive range of delicacies taken from members’ sweet and savoury goodies.
The evening saw a new event: a discussion evening with two top Norfolk chefs, followed by a bangers ‘n’ mash supper, prepared, cooked and served by students from Aylsham High School.
Saturday evening was dedicated to a wine tasting in the town’s Heritage Centre and the whole weekend was rounded off on Sunday morning with the ever-popular Big Slow Brunch, where members of festival organisers Slow Food Aylsham, cooked up a Full English for more than 60 guests in the town hall.
Slow Food spokesman Roger Willis said: “We’ve managed to cover a lot of bases with this year’s festival, with events for youngsters and adults, plus being able to support local producers of Norfolk’s finest foods. Here’s to 2018!”