FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

Join us for the South Downs Festival THE BIG LUNCH in support of Rowans Hospice (all profits going to Rowans) on Saturday 14th Sept at 1pm in the Stansted Arboretum. Tickets are £70 and can be purchased at eventbrite.com with your festival ticket. More

Thomasina Miers heads up the Demo tent, with wood-fired inspired cookery demos on the Big Green Egg and OFYR grill, a Hambledon Vineyard dish by Michelin-starred chef Nick Edgar, a venison butchery class and discussion on wild game, sourdough bread-making and a pickling demo, this will be delicious entertainment.

Choose between wild venison, pasture-fed beef, wood-fired pizza, vegetarian salads, sushi, crepes and more with grills lit and charcoal smoking.

Charcuterie, English Sparkling, Sussex Cheeses, Organic wines – meet the producers, find out how the food and drink was created and taste what makes them special.

This is a truly South Downs market, with over 30 Sussex and Hampshire food and drink producers, from Chalkstream trout to farm charcuterie, vinegars to kimchi, Stansted honey to horseradish sauce, and of course, plenty of gin, beer and wine. Shopping has never been such fun!

Auberon Waugh once said that food writer Elizabeth David would get his vote as the single person most responsible for improving British life in the twentieth century.  We can attribute the post-war British Food Revival to Elizabeth David and her cook books and the festival will bring her kitchen back to life at Stansted Park. We have brought in her furniture, personal objects and papers into the glorious Edwardian kitchen. Visitors can now be in just the sort of space and atmosphere in which Elizabeth conceived her books, tested the recipes, cooked and entertained her friends and family.  Stansted House admission including the Elizabeth David Exhibition will be half price during the festival (£5). 

How do we combine modern farming and creating food with protecting our environment? Discover the people who are making a difference to our local chalk streams while working with farmers, from the Western Sussex Rivers Trust to , Isle of Wight based Ellen MacArthur Foundation is working on a global scale to promote a circular economy for food. Any surplus food from the festival will be gathered and redistributed by UK Harvest.

Hedgerow foraging walks, a dedicated kids’ zone with cooking, face-painting and a coconut shy; the festival is perfect for families looking to enjoy a day out together.

The festival atmosphere will be enhanced by live performances from local bands ‘Superstrings’ and ‘Lady and the Dukes’ ensuring a vibrant and enjoyable experience for all ages.