Enjoy a day of gastronomic delight and fun for all the family at Cawdor Castle, writes Susan Welsh
For families looking for a day out that ticks many boxes, the Living Food Festival at Cawdor Castle fits the bill nicely.
Here’s a chance to visit a historic castle, support your local farmer and artisan producer, eat your way around a tented village and listen to some great music at the same time.
This year’s food and drink festival takes place this Saturday, September 20, within the grounds of the magical castle which dates from the late 14th century.
One of the highlights of the Highland Homecoming celebrations and Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight, the festival will once again feature the very best organic food and drink alongside wonderful crafts and entertainment.
The emphasis is firmly on artisan, organic, local produce and showcases some of the best producers in the Highlands, and more than 50 food and drink stalls are housed within a large tented village, meaning visitors can have a good day out whether the sun shines or it pours with rain.
This year, organisers are working in partnership with Homecoming Scotland and Slow Food Scotland to bring some of Slow Food’s 10 Scottish Ark of Taste products to the show.
The Ark of Taste is a catalogue of forgotten, marginalised or endangered foods that are at risk of disappearing forever.
Visitors can also experience the taste of, and hear the stories behind, some of the most interesting items in Scotland’s food heritage, especially from the Highlands and Islands, which is home to a range of very traditional products, including rare livestock breeds, landrace crop varieties and traditional food processes.
Youngsters can also get involved by learning, in a fun and interactive way, how food comes from soil to the plate.
Food-education specialists will be on hand to invite them to learn about compost heaps, make paper pots and pot up seeds, play games about food miles and eating in season, try milling flour, bake bannocks, taste tray bakes made with vegetables and fruit, and join in Slow Food’s Taste Adventure.
There’s also family entertainment, face painting and balloon modelling on offer and more than 20 artisan craft stalls that will be worth a visit. The musical entertainment for the day will focus on young people, including music with links to food, and feature music from the Caledonian Ceilidh Trail.
This is a young enterprise that provides talented young Highland musicians with the necessary training and exposure to take their music forward on a professional or semi-professional basis.
Other fun events taking place on the day include a speed-dating session, and entertainment from Kerr MacDonald, Nairn Youth Ceilidh Band, Caledonian Junior Ceilidh Trail, chainsaw carving demonstrations and visits from a stilt walker.
Following on from the festival, the first Terra Madre Scotland event will take place on Saturday night and on Sunday, September 21.
Terra Madre is an international network of food communities, groups of small-scale producers and their supporters, united in the production and promotion of a particular food and closely linked to a geographical area, working to establish a system of good, clean and fair food, starting at grassroots level.
This will give delegates a chance to know more about the Ark of Taste producers and the chefs who will be promoting them at the festival.
Highlights of this include An Evening of Terra Madre Tales, which includes beer and whisky tastings, Ark of Taste canapes, a buffet dinner prepared by Slow Food Scotland’s Chef Alliance and a traditional ceilidh on the Saturday, with workshops and a Taste of Scotland buffet lunch on the Sunday.
For further details of Terra Madre Scotland or to book a place, please visit www.slowfoodscotland.org
Fact box
When: Saturday, September 20, from 10am-5pm.
Where: Cawdor Castle, Cawdor (Between Nairn and Inverness).
Getting there: If you don’t want to take the car, a minibus will run from Nairn Bus Station, via Nairn Rail Station, to the fair between 10am and 5pm, departing approximately on the hour and leaving the fair at around half past the hour. Last run 4.30pm.
Cost: Adults, £4, children £1 (5-15 years), family £10 (up to five children).
Contact: www.cawdorcastle.com/livingfood.aspx