Excitement is building ahead of one of the region's most prestigious food and drink events which takes place at the end of this month. Thousands of visitors and 128 producers will descend on Snape Maltings next weekend (September 28 and 29) for the annual Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival. The show - which has become a magnet for food lovers from other parts of the UK - will feature celebrated local restaurants like The Suffolk in Aldeburgh which is run by a festival director - George Pell - The Greyhound in Pettistree, Pinch by Alice Norman at Kelsale and The Unruly Pig near Woodbridge.
Event headlines are Michelin starred Tom Aikens, Tom Booton of The Grill at The Dorchester hotel, celebrated chef and cookbook author Ben Tish and Ivan Tisdall-Downes of Native at Penson. (Image: Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival) The two-day celebration also features private chef Pete Harrison, butchers Salter & King, Pump Street Chocolate of Orford and Southwold brewery Adnams. There will also be newcomers - including Suffolk-based heirloom seed brand She Grows Veg - the first time event planners have admitted a "non-food" brand exhibit.
Its founders Lucy Hutchings and Kate Cotterill will be introducing visitors to their range of unusual veg seeds and demonstrating the link between growing and cooking. Local food campaigner and festival president Lady Caroline Cranbrook - one of the founders of the event back in 2006 - said its continuing success reflected increasing public interest in the .