Final countdown to the Ashford Food & Drink Festival

It’s the final countdown to the annual Ashford Food and Drink Festival, the month-long celebration of the fabulous food and drink experiences in and around Ashford town centre!

Throughout July, the town centre will be serving a menu full of wonderful food and drink activities, alongside some tempting offers. Experience the huge choice of mouth-watering tastes and flavours from around the world, where residents and visitors alike will find something to tickle everyone’s taste buds.

From wine tasting, teddy bear picnics, markets, weekend festivals, pizza making and competitions, we invite you to ‘taste and try throughout July’. For full details visit the Love Ashford website.

This year’s highlights include:

• Launching with Ashfood! at Elwick Place on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June – a family friendly event featuring food stalls and entertainment, including (on 29^th) live music from Whiskey & Wine, cocktails from World Margarita 2024 finalist Lexi Palmer Brown from Hide Bar and Oyster Buoys with seafood delicacies.
• A Tasting Evening with The Wine Garden of England and Boys Hall at Revelations in St Mary’s Church is now joined by four Kent vineyards – Gusbourne, Squerryes, Biddenden and Yotes Court – where you can also purchase their wine and others at the event. There will also be live jazz music from Jonny Hepbir.
• Curious Brewery Summer BBQ Weekend – Saturday 20 July, 12pm until late, and Sunday 21 July 12pm until it’s gone! £4 pints all weekend plus summer cocktails and new wines
• Curious Pairings: Exclusive Food & Beer Pairing Evening – 3 July 7pm. Embark on a culinary adventure at Curious Brewery's Tasting Evening. Prepare your senses for an unforgettable journey through the realms of their premium beers and exquisite small plates, expertly curated to tantalise taste buds. Five course tasting menu including variations of their favourite small plates. Priced at £35 per person. Each dish includes a beer to pair with the dish. Audience capped at 40 for a more intimate evening.
• The Award Winning Comedian That Cooks – George Egg! 11 July at Coachworks. George recently won the Fortnum and Mason 2024 content creator award. An evening of cooking-with-laughs, you can expect to learn how to make food on a train with a laptop, in a shed with power tools and in a hotel room with the appliances they unwittingly provide you with. Three plates of gourmet food prepared in the most unconventional of ways and with the opportunity to taste the results at the end.
• Four fantastic competitions from Kent Cookery School, Everest Inn, Curious Brewery and Gusbourne Winery and Vineyard.
• Amazing offers – including Billy’s Pie and Mash deal with pie, mash, drink and pudding (jam roly poly anyone!) for under £10!
• The Great Ashford Sandwich Competition! With Low Key Tap Room in Bank Street. Enter online at Love Ashford to have your favourite sandwich filling put on the menu and be the first winner of the trophy!
• What better way to celebrate the end of the Festival than with a wrap party! Round up your friends and head down to Coachworks to enjoy tasty street food, a wide range of drinks plus live music from Ashford-based band Whiskey & Wine. It's FREE entry and runs between 4pm and 8pm on 31 July.

Keli Nolan-Lyons, Town Centre Regeneration Manager at Ashford Borough Council, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the brilliant businesses and offers we have in Ashford town centre, combined with those slightly further afield. There really is something for everyone to enjoy throughout July.

“We hope residents and visitors enjoy discovering something new, as well as revisiting old favourites by raising a glass or savouring a dish as we celebrate the variety of food and drink offerings we have here in Ashford.”