The Best Food and Drink Events in and Around London

*This is a collaborative post*

When it comes to sheer variety of food and drink on offer, it’s difficult to beat the capital. London is home to thousands of restaurants and bars, influenced by cultures and gastronomic movements around the world. What’s more, it’s always hosting miniature (and sometimes not so miniature) one-off celebrations of food. Consequently, Londoners are never far from an exciting food event. Let’s take a look at some of the leading food and drink events in and around the capital.

This event takes place over a three-day weekend in May, and features everything from former Masterchef champions to celebrity chefs, as well as a range of street food vendors. Foodies festival is held annually in Brentford, Middlesex. 

This ten-day festival brings a vast amount of music to East London. But, perhaps more importantly if you’re a foodie, it also brings an array of curated street food vendor. The event is sponsored by Jägermeister, and features an array of cocktails based around everyone’s favourite aniseed-rich liquor.

Taste run several festivals in London, with the next one coming up in November. More than thirty-thousand hungry punters flock to East London’s Tobacco Dock each year to enjoy festive-inspired tipples, warming waffles, and a vast selection of other seasonal delights. More than twenty of the capital’s best restaurants have stalls set up here, showcasing their best dishes – as well as a few that have been created especially for the festival.

If you’re willing to take a trip further north, there’s Sandringham’s festival to consider. You’ll find food halls packed with local produce, along with demonstrations from prestigious chefs. The estate is easily reachable from London, courtesy of Govia Thameslink. Just catch a train from King’s Cross to King’s Lynn. 

This one is a new entry into London’s food festival scene. It provides members of the public with a chance to glimpse the inner workings of this most famous of cookery schools, and features demonstrations from some of its most famous alumni. There’s also a slow-food market and plenty of practical demonstrations and workshops to consider. The 2019 event attracted considerable attention, and next year’s will likely be even bigger.

If you’re after something a little more specific, then you might head down to the banks of the River Thames. Not only is this five-day seafood festival free, but it also offers the opportunity to enjoy cooking demonstrations, oyster masterclasses, and Japanese whisky tasting sessions (with accompanying seafood bites). If you’re got a taste for fish, crustaceans and undersea molluscs, then there’s no better place in London to be!