A new food and drink festival celebrating west London is launching at the end of the month.
WestFest, which is promising craft beer and street food, will run on September 28, from 11am-8pm, in Old Market Place on Chiswick High Street. Admission is free.
Described as “a vibrant gathering of the area’s independent brewers and distillers”, the festival is the brainchild of Richard Johnson, the former restaurant critic for the Independent. Johnson is perhaps best known as the founder of the British Street Food Awards.
The festival will host the final of the awards, marking the first time in its 15-year history that it’s been held in west London rather than east.
Heats for the British Street Food Awards have been happening across the country through the summer, with the regional winners coming to Chiswick to battle it out for first place; this will make up the food offering at the festival, and as such is being kept under wraps. Festival attendees will cast their votes to find the winner, who will then go on to represent Britain at the European Street Food Awards in Munich, held in October.
Deciding alongside the public will be a panel of judges, including Greg Wellman (head chef at the Michelin-starred La Trompette) and Gaetano Farucci (head chef at the Michelin-starred Caractere). It is hoped that Michele Pascarella of the award-winning Napoli On The Road will also sign on as a third judge.
While the food offering remains a closely guarded secret, there will be craft beer from Horseden Hill’s Perivale Brewery, Jawbone in Twickenham and Tiny Vessel in Hampton. Elsewhere will be beer from Fuller’s Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, and gin from Sipsmith Gin, which is made less than a mile from Old Market Place.
“Street food and craft beer are a real lifestyle choice” said Johnson. “Nowhere more so than the streets of West London. We are choosing to eat in different ways. We don’t want a fixed starter-main course-dessert menu any more — we want a bit of this and a bit of that. It’s flirty, low-commitment dining, and it’s why street food and craft beer have become so popular. WestFest, and the lifestyle it champions, will make the world a much nicer place to be.”
September 28, Old Market Place, 167-211 Chiswick High Road, W4 2DR. For more information, visit britishstreetfood.co.uk
