Aylsham has a well deserved reputation as a “foodie town” with its wide range of food retailers, a twice-monthly FARMA-accredited farmers’ markets and of course, the many farms which surround it. The town’s annual Food Festival serves to confirm that reputation, focussing on local food, its producers and associated businesses.

The 2010 Aylsham Food Festival takes place over the weekend of 1st to 3rd October 2010 with a variety of events for the whole community, starting with a sumptuous buffet dinner for 100 people at the High School on Friday 1st. Students at the school have been charged with devising a menu, as well costing the ingredients which must be sourced locally. Tickets for the dinner will be available in September and will cost just £18.50 per person.

Saturday 2nd will see the bulk of the Food Festival events, starting with a farmers’ market in the Market Place during the morning. Running at the same time will be ‘The Taste Adventure’ in the Town Hall. This new departure for the Food Festival uses a project devised by Slow Food UK, aimed at educating children on the use of the five senses when we eat and enjoy good food. A series of ‘zones’ will be set up to stimulate the children’s senses through ‘touchy’, ‘smelly’, ‘noisy’, ‘tasty’ and ‘seeing’ areas, where children are encouraged to squish, spy and sniff food in its natural form. Entry will be completely free and there will be gifts for the children.

Also on Saturday, the High School will host ‘Kids Cooking Workshops’ where primary school children will make fresh food products, using local ingredients. Run in association with the lottery-funded ‘Let’s Get Cooking’ campaign, these workshops will encourage young children to taste and share the food both at the cooking session and at home.

Rounding off Aylsham Food Festival will be the Big Slow Breakfast in the Town Hall on the morning of Sunday 3rd October. This much-loved event has become a byword for the Festival and its organisers, Slow Food Aylsham, offering local residents and their guests the opportunity to share a traditional English breakfast (a vegetarian option will be available) in a friendly and light-hearted atmosphere.

Tickets for the Friday evening dinner and the Big Slow Breakfast will be available throughout September at Salad Days fruit and veg stall in the Town Square. The Taste Adventure offers free entry on the day while details of the Kids Cooking Workshops will be made available through the town’s primary schools. There is more information about the Food Festival on the Slow Food Aylsham website at www.slowfoodaylsham.org.uk

Slow Food Aylsham, organisers of the Aylsham Food Festival, is a not-for-profit membership organisation, a branch of Slow Food UK. The international Slow Food movement, founded in 1989, has over 100,000 members across the world and seeks to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.