The award-winning Ballantrae Festival of Food and Drink will return as a live event this summer.
And this year will be all the more sweet as the village became South Ayrshire’s first Biosphere Community in January.
Organisers are now calling on growers, producers, retailers and chefs who would like to attend and join the celebration of showcasing the best small and sustainable food businesses in Scotland’s southwest.
The festival ran as a digital event for the last two years due to Covid-19 restrictions, with thousands of visitors engaging online in 2020 and 2021.
This year’s event will take place over the weekend of Saturday, June 11, and as in previous years will include a lively variety of workshops, tastings and demonstrations alongside a two-day food market.
Dr Mhairi McKenna of BFFD’s organising group said: “We are very much looking forward to welcoming visitors to Ballantrae Festival of Food and Drink in June, and especially to helping reconnect Scotland’s producers, retailers and customers, for whom this has been such a challenging couple of years.
“I don’t think there is any better way to move forward than by coming together to celebrate and share our local food and drink.”
Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere has been involved with the festival for several years.
Marie McNulty, business development officer with the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere, said: “Our UNESCO Biosphere has a longstanding relationship with Ballantrae Festival of Food and Drink as we work in partnership to promote sustainable produce and give a platform to some truly innovative local enterprises.
“Ballantrae became South Ayrshire’s first Biosphere Community at the beginning of 2022 and the festival this summer is something that the village can look forward to as a showcase of what local passion and pride can achieve.”
Ballantrae Festival of Food & Drink is supported by partners including Ballantrae Community Fund, Kilgallioch Community Fund and Carrick Futures.
- Any businesses that would like to participate in this year’s event are invited to email ballantraefestival@gmail.com for more information. Applications are open now and with limited availability the allocation of stalls and workshop spaces will fill up in the spring.
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