A TASTY treat was served up to Rugbeians on Saturday (September 26) as the Rugby Food and Drink Festival returned after two years off due to the pandemic.
Regent Street was rich with the smell of biltong, German sausages, Indian street food, Greek food, pork and chorizo burgers, flatbreads, gourmet brownies, Punjabi street food, Jamaican cuisine, cheeses and local honey – just some of the treats on offer from businesses, farms and producers.
A pop-up kitchen hosted a variety of demonstrations from chefs throughout the day.
TV chef Kwoklyn Wan from ITV’s This Morning and Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch demonstrated his American Chinese Egg Roll and Australian Chinese Sweet Pork recipes, local chef Sam Smith showed off her Jubilee Bundt pudding which featured on BBC One’s The Jubilee Pudding competition earlier this year, and Patti Sloley introduced the audience to her Ghanaian fusion dishes.
Children were kept busy with circus skills, a big wheel, face-painting and henna tattoos, while St Andrew’s Church Gardens hosted live music.
Rugby First Operations Director Jo Kemp said: “It was great to see the town centre buzzing. The increased footfall will have provided a real boost to the town centre economy. Initial feedback from visitors, stall holders and businesses has been excellent – many of the food stalls taking part in the event sold out.
“I would like to thank all those businesses, individuals and visitors who supported the festival, but would also like to extend a special thank you to St Andrew’s Church for their invaluable contribution to the success of the event.
“The 2023 festival will be taking place on Saturday September 23 so please make a note of the date in your diary. If you are interested in having a stall or being part of the pop-up kitchen programme please get in touch.
“In the meantime make sure you don’t miss out on Rugby First’s next event, which will be the Christmas Light Switch-On taking place on Sunday November 20.”
