Doddington Hall to hold ‘Food Feastival’

Lincoln’s Doddington Hall – a Great Food Club-recommended venue – is to hold its first ever ‘Food Feastival’ this May, bringing together the finest food producers from across the region.

The Elizabethan hall will host the free event on May 7 – the first Bank Holiday Monday in May. The event will take place in the Elizabethan coach house alongside Doddington Hall’s award-winning farm shop, with more than 20 additional stalls stocking locally produced food and drink. The day will also include food demonstrations, classes and talks.

Visitors will get the chance to browse and sample a variety of new produce and check out cookery demonstrations and drinks masterclasses. Doddington’s own Hambleton Farms Butchery (another GFC recommendation), which specialises in local meats, will be sharing BBQ tips and demonstrating how to best cook meat.

Following the success of Doddington’s recent popular Gin Masterclass, the festival will also offer the chance to sample the Burleighs range of gins. Meanwhile, the farm shop’s fruit and vegetable specialist, Emily Warrior, will be talking all things vegan and giving her advice on vegan cooking.

Farm shop manager Sarah Hall explained: “This will be our first Food Feastival and is sure to be the first of many. We are bringing together local artisan suppliers and giving people the opportunity to find out more about locally produced food and how they can use the ingredients to create dishes at home.”

“We are passionate about providing food that has little or no food miles and we will be championing local food suppliers. It’s all about returning to basics: good ingredients, sourced locally with low environmental impact. At Doddington Hall we supply fruit and vegetables from our own kitchen garden and locally reared beef, pork and lamb in the butchery. We are also trying to reduce plastic packaging on all of our fruit and veg and encouraging others to do the same.”

During Food Feastival visitors will be able to stock up on fresh produce ranging from cheeses, pies and snacks to cakes, pastries and biscuits, as well as party food. There will also be a range of artisan breads from the bakery section and an extensive range of chutneys, jams, sauces, and sweet treats and chocolates. That’s not to mention the famed Doddington Estate Honey, Doddington-recipe marmalade and the farm shop’s very own apple juice made using the apples from the orchard.

Visitors can refuel in the café and, as the hall and gardens will be open too, explore the house and stroll around the gardens and parkland.

Food Feastival takes place on Monday May 7, 10am and 4pm. The house will be open 12-4.30pm and the gardens 11am-4.30pm. While admission to the festival and car parking are free, normal admission costs apply for the house and gardens.

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