YOU could sometimes feel each day brings a new festival. In food terms the Manchester Food and Drink Festival in September is still the year’s mega event, but if you need to whet your appetite there are two new boutique events coming up.
The first ever Castlefield Food Festival (May 15-17) is a family-friendly weekend event at Castlefield Bowl features a demo kitchen showcasing the expertise of the likes of Robert Owen Brown, from Rosylee in the Northern Quarter and BBC Food and Drink Show wine guru Kate Goodman (pictured above).
Kate, who owns West Didsbury wine shop Reserve, will also be bringing her Vin Van Voom vintage airstream trailer, which will be serving up top quality wines and fizz sourced from independent, family-owned vineyards.
Also on the menu will be pop-up restaurants from Dukes 92, Dimitri’s and Veeno as well as street food stalls, a world and farmers’ market and cocktail-making classes. Music comes from Quentin Tarantino tribute act A Band Apart and funk Spanish crossover band Break Latino. Keep up to date with @castlefieldfood.
Reserve Wines turn up again as sponsors of the more eclectic Shebeen Festival 2015, which takes place on Saturday, May 2 at three venues across the Green Quarter – Runaway Brewery, Glassworks Distribution & Blackjack Brewery.
Music is the main focus with with a wealth of eclectic live acts and DJs, but there also be 40 taps of beer, a wine and tapas bar (from Reserve and fellow sponsor, Lunya of Liverpool) plus a a streetfood market featuring food from Italy, Thailand, the Middle East, Spain and America’s Deep South.
The majority of the tickets for this festival have already been purchased through Shebeen Events’ Kickstarter campaign to launch a new permanent events space in the Green Quarter (Keystone) but the remainder are now on sale through this link. Further liine-up details from @GRUBMCR and @SHEBEENUK