Emsworth Food Festival, Emsworth, Hampshire www.emsworthfoodfestival.org.uk

The Emsworth Food Festival is an interesting and fun day out, with good parking. we were told about this festival and only living in Fareham we didn't know how we had ever missed it. Look forward to each year now even introduced other people to go.

Emsworth Food Festival.

Many, many years ago I was born in the pretty Hampshire town of Emsworth. Almost nine years after this momentous event I was torn from my comfortable home and transplanted to the wilds of Norfolk. I don't think I have ever recovered from this traumatic experience. Okay, I'm being overdramatic and Norfolk is fine before anyone gets cross with me! But Emsworth will always be the home of my heart. A few years ago my Mother revisited for a short break and on her return was full of praise for a great innovation by the honest burghers of this town. They had created a Food Festival. Now naturally being a bit of a gourmand my little ears pricked up at this

So last September we wended our way southwards to check out the 4th Emsworth Food Festival. At the approach to the town we were stopped by a very pleasant young man in army uniform manning a barricade. Luckily for us we were booked into a hotel down by the harbour so the barrier was pulled back and we are able to drive slowly and smugly down pretty little streets already starting fill up with stalls. If you aren't booked up at a hotel in town you will just have to park and ride in! After parking we strolled along the harbour wall while browsing through the guide and planning our route on the map. There are five themed 'villages' using the main car parks set aside for stallholders for the Food Festival and stalls fill the main streets going right down to a smaller car park area on the harbour, hence the need for park and ride schemes.

As we were there for the whole weekend we had no need to rush to see everything at once so we began with the Village on the Quay. Here was the place for seafood lovers like us. Although small, the area was filled with differing stalls flowing over with fruits de mer and a large RNLI van selling plenty of gifts and souvenirs. We started our day long feast with a cup of fresh prawns and mussels from a small van, rather like the typical ice cream van but of course much fishier!

We then ambled up South Street to the car park behind the Bluebell pub (which establishment, incidentally, serves fabulous Dover sole in three sizes and believe me the large size is one very big fish! It actually hangs off the edge of the plate!). This is the largest of the car parks and houses the elegantly hefty Veuve Clicquot marquee in which fourteen different demonstrations were held over the weekend and a smaller marquee for wine tasting. Some demonstrations need to be booked and it is wise to book these in as far advance as possible as they are extremely popular. The wine tasting tent holds tasting sessions that do not need booking, just be prepared to queue or take your chances later in the day, the queue starts well before the opening time. In between these tents are a myriad of stalls, under the umbrellas of 'The Sussex and Hampshire Village' and 'The Wine Village' all offering a wide variety of food and drink. Each business offers tasting so if you don't pace yourself you will find you won't need lunch, which would be a shame as Emsworth has many delightful restaurants to suit all tastes and price ranges

Along with the victuals were local traders offering assorted cookery and wine related products. Just before going into the wine tasting tent we treated ourselves to a pair of tasting glasses etched with the Emsworth 2004 Food Festival logo, a lovely souvenir which we use regularly at home; just to bring back memories you understand! To make the tasting event easier little leather holders were available for the glasses, with a loop to hang around your neck and a small pouch that securely cradled the glass, thus leaving a hand free to make notes on the wines you tasted. We also bought, from the Wonky Foods stall, an ingenious bottle holder for some friends. It was basically a flat piece of wood about 2 inches wide, half an inch thick and ten inches long, with a hole in it (see it at www.wonkyfoods.com). The idea is to stand it up on end and poke the neck of the wine bottle through the hole. It looks very odd seeing bottles suspended horizontally in mid air apparently defying gravity, but these gadgets really do work. Christmas morning we got a phone call from our friends who wondered why they had been given a stick with a hole in it! Luckily when we explained they were delighted and love having such a talking point for dinner parties

After sampling some organic beer, nibbling local cheeses and enjoying the aroma from the Chichester College's paella stand we emerged near the top of the Road at the town square, housing the Emsworth Village, which was filled with more stalls and where a stage is erected for entertainment. Around the square are a number of food shops who were also giving away free samples. This is the area in which many French stalls are and it was a joy to me as a true Francophile to be able to buy an assortment of saussicons and fromages to take home. Everything for sale was available to try beforehand; a good idea for the less adventurous who may not really enjoy that spicy garlic cured meat bought in a moment of over excitement! For our mid morning snacking we had a wide range of cured meats accompanied by assorted breads, both French and local English

We paused for a while to enjoy some jazz in the square before heading up through the high street to the British Village where more stalls abound along both sides of the street. We began to slow down as more and more people began throng into the town and we paused more and more often sample the wares on offer. The British Village feels less than the Sussex and Hampshire as it stretches along the High street and into North Street, but it has a good range of cookery products and crockery as well as organic fruit wines and of course many more food stalls!

Having spent the Friday wandering around wallowing in the plethora of fine foods and drink we repaired back to our hotel and spent the evening dining in the splendour of 36 On The Quay; quite possibly the best restaurant I've ever visited. The Saturday morning we were served in our room with a continental breakfast of fresh breads, fruits, yoghurt and coffee, which I ate while wrapped in a large courtesy bathrobe in the bay window overlooking the harbour. The sun shone down on the stallholders setting up by the quay for another day of hard work and fun. We had only booked one night at 36, so we left and drove out of the main festival area to the Brookfield Hotel. After checking in we walked back towards town via the slipper pond to feed the swans and thus recreate a favourite part of my childhood. Emsworth swans are very tame and used to people hand feeding them, but because of this they can be rather alarming as they rush up to anyone carrying a rustling bag. All too soon my bag was empty and it was time to say goodbye to my feathered friends. Back in the main part of the town the festival was going strong and we joined the crowd to watch Aziza; a group of women performing colourful traditional Egyptian dance. The rest of the day was spent trying even more food and drink; truth be told, a large part of the afternoon was whiled away in the wine tasting tent. My best excuse for this is that it was a little cold and wet outside. Dinner that night was in the Brookfield Hotel where we enjoyed a delicious table d'hote dinner especially created for the festival that included a chosen wine for each course

We had arranged to meet up with my mother and some old neighbours still living in Emsworth on the Sunday, so we took a light picnic and sat along the harbour wall watching people enjoying the brisk and blowy day. When everyone arrived we walked up to The Bluebell for lunch and sat in their small courtyard garden where we dined on assorted fresh fish while listening to the babble of happy people and but could just catch the mellow sounds music playing in the square. As we left the pub I was delighted to see the fabulous Jambalaya Parade Band going past playing wonderful foot tapping music. A real touch of the Mardis Gras in southern England!

Sunday afternoon many of the stallholders begin to pack and go home so we spent the rest of the day back at the Brookfield Hotel recuperating enough to enjoy another mouth-watering three course dinner. If you do decide to go for the whole weekend I would recommend arriving early on Friday and leaving on Sunday afternoon as we found watching the festival pack away gave us a rather melancholy feeling. But nothing could take away the magical sentiments we took away with us as we left on Monday morning. I realise I am probably biased as an ex-resident, but no matter where this was held the whole experience would please any food lover. The Emsworth Food Festival is without doubt a very well run, organised and supported affair. Every establishment in town that could possibly be considered as being food related had a special menu, entertainment or event. And those that weren't food related joined in, in various ways, to show their support. Although food is the main theme the entertainment is superb as well. The atmosphere was happy, friendly and almost carnival like. The weather was good, with only the odd patch of drizzle, but sadly not as good as the heat wave the year before

The festival website has an overheard quote from last year's festival which, I think, sums the weekend up: "..............it seems like we are the centre of the universe." I am already booked to go back this year roll on September!