Summer - albeit with the odd thunderstorm - is upon us and what better time to celebrate local food? Hampshire Food Festival kicked off last week and runs right to the end of the month, with 120 events showcasing local produce. There’s plenty of opportunity to enjoy Hampshire delicacies via cookery demonstrations across the county as well as workshops including bee keeping, gardening, and jam, chocolate, wine, and bread making, and it sounds like the perfect time to take a trip over there, wherever you live.

Food celebrity heavyweights Ainsley Harriott, Rose Elliot and Prue Leith are lending their support to the festival, alongside encouragement from TrustedPlaces favourite (and Hampshire resident) Gordon Ramsay. In his foreword to the festival programme the chef calls the event “a fascinating insight into the range of wonderful food produced, grown and reared across the county”, praising the “local farmers and producers who are so passionate in their work and the food they produce”.

We already know from you lot that Hampshire has a lot to offer, from romantic dinners in Southampton to fresh pub grub and real ales in Basingstoke to great liquorice in Portsmouth, so download the festival programme here and don’t forget to tell us all about where you went!

Have you been to any good food festivals recently? Or do you have any planned for the summer? Give us all the gossip - we want to see your photos!

Photo credit: chocolate Truffles by Lots of Sprinkles (CC License)

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