Next month is totally bonkers if you like foody events! August is the biggest month in the British food calendar, and it front-loads and back-loads in equal measure: a scattering of gloriously specific one-offs early on, then a Bank Holiday weekend where seven festivals collide. Here's what's worth the diary space.
The first weekend
The Anglesey Summer Festival — Pentraeth, Anglesey (1–2 August).
Brand new for 2026, merging the much-loved Menai and Beaumaris food festivals into one bigger site at Parc yr Odyn Farm — which happens to be home to Anglesey Môn Distillery. Over 100 food, drink and craft exhibitors, a dedicated producers' marquee, and Welsh beers, ciders and spirits on the pop-up bars. £5 a day, under-16s free, parking included.
Seaham Food Festival — Seaham, County Durham (1–2 August).
Free two-day festival on the Durham seafront with around 140 traders and an open-air cookery theatre headlined by Matt Tebbutt, alongside Cherish Finden, Shelina Permalloo, Cyrus Todiwala and Chris Bavin. Council-run, free entry, park and ride from Spectrum and Doxford business parks.
Great Dorset Chilli Festival — Stock Gaylard Estate, near Sturminster Newton, Dorset (1–2 August).
One of the county's most-loved food days out, running since 2011, set in the parkland of a traditional deer-park estate. Around 130 stalls of all things chilli — pepper plants, artisan hot sauces, chutneys and specialist growers — plus spicy street food, cookery demos, live music, and the highlight: a chilli-eating contest at 4pm each day, where ten brave souls chew through ever-hotter peppers and the estate's own dairy milk is on hand for anyone who cracks. This is proper Dorset Naga country. 10am–5pm.
Meat Up Festival — Ashley Showground, Cheshire (1–2 August).
A brand-new "field-to-flame" festival for 2026, built on knowing exactly where your food comes from: live fire cooking across three demo stages, craft butchery, farming knowledge, and the farmers and butchers behind the food all in one place. Music from Craig Charles, Levi Roots' Carnival Party and Tom Hingley, plus camping, campfires, axe throwing, hovercraft racing and a proper family zone. Field to flame, dawn till dusk and beyond.
PieFest & SpiritsFest — Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire (1–2 August).
The town that gave its name to the porkpie throws a festival for its signature dish, and it's every bit as specific as that sounds: award-winning pies from across the country, including Supreme Champions of the British Pie Awards, a pie-and-mash kitchen, and an actual "Pie Panel" fielding your pie questions. The paired SpiritsFest runs alongside for the artisan gin and whisky crowd. £5 in, under-16s free.
Great British Food Festival — Lydiard Park, Wiltshire (1–2 August).
The GBFF tour opens August in a Georgian parkland just outside Swindon: 100-plus artisan producers, street food, chef demos on stage, live music through the day, and enough kids' activities to buy you an hour with a local beer. Dog-friendly, like all their stops.
Beer, cider and the Scottish leg
The Wandsworth Common Great Beer & Cider Summer Festival — Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, London SW18 (5–8 August).
150 beers and ciders from the four corners of the UK under the barrel roof of one of south London's most striking Victorian buildings, with live music and an all-day BBQ. Wednesday runs 6–11pm, then Thursday to Saturday 1–11pm. Notable this year: it's been mounted specifically to fill the gap left by the cancellation of CAMRA's Olympia Great British Beer Festival, which would have run these exact dates. Independents stepping in where the national event fell over — we'll drink to that.
Foodies Festival — Edinburgh (7–9 August).
The touring festival takes on the capital mid-Fringe, which is either inspired or madness depending on your tolerance for crowds. Chef demos, the Cake & Bake theatre, drinks masterclasses and live music — and a city already running at full tilt around it.
South West Sardine Festival — Brixham harbour, Devon (9 August).
A gloriously single-minded celebration of the humble British sardine, inspired by the street parties of Spain and Portugal: whole sardines grilled over fire on the quayside, long communal tables down the harbour, live music and a proper seaside knees-up. Now in its second year, with Saturday Kitchen's Matt Tebbutt and seafood royalty Mitch Tonks (Rockfish) on the grills. Free to wander in; £12 gets you a plate of the main event. Noon till late.
Mid-month
Cork on a Fork Fest — Cork City (12–16 August).
Five days, more than 150 events, and an entire city turned over to its own food culture — now in its fifth year and its most ambitious yet. Pop-up feasts, chef collaborations, free demos, food trails, foraging walks and a show-stopping long-table street feast, all radiating out from the English Market, where Cork's restaurants can order produce and have it in the kitchen within minutes. New for 2026: The Big Table Mixer at Marina Market, an alcohol-free communal feast for 100 people. A Cork City Council festival, and a reminder that Cork is home to the majority of Ireland's artisan producers.
Big Grill Festival — Herbert Park, , Dublin (13–16 August).
Europe's largest BBQ and live-fire festival, and it does not mess about: Michelin-starred Texas brisket from Austin's LA Barbecue, Northern Thai, wood-fired duck, and Irish and international pitmasters cooking dishes you'd normally cross continents for. The Bastecamp stage teaches you to grill, smoke, marinate and butcher (with samples), there's a Little Grillers area for children, and enough craft breweries and cocktail bars to keep the whole thing pleasantly rowdy. Leafy Dublin park, serious fire.
Berwick Food & Beer Festival — The Parade, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland (14–16 August).
Celebrating its 20th year, this free, unticketed festival is run by Berwick Slow Food on the principle of "good, clean and fair food for all" — a proper community celebration in the handsome border town. Local producers and a donation-based producers' market, craft breweries and bars, a demo kitchen, live music, comedy, family activities and even a drag cabaret. Relaxed by day, lively by evening, and a tempting stop for anyone exploring the Northumberland coast or the Scottish Borders.
Foodies Festival — Glasgow (14–16 August).
The same formula a week later and forty miles west, with a Glasgow crowd.
The Temple Newsam Food Festival — Temple Newsam, Leeds (15–16 August).
A big, family-friendly two-dayer in the grounds of a Tudor-Jacobean estate: international street food, free chef demos with the Yorkshire Food Guide, artisan markets, independent bars, live music all day, and a proper spread of family entertainment from stilt-walkers to a mobile farm. Dogs very welcome. As seen in the BBC, the Guardian and the Yorkshire Post.
Isle of Wight Garlic Festival — Isle of Wight (15–16 August).
Britain's most gloriously single-minded food festival, and 43 years in the making. Garlic ice cream. Garlic beer. An entire weekend built around one bulb, on an island that has to be reached by boat. Absolutely worth the ferry.
Great British Food Festival — Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham (15–16 August).
Arguably the best-value stop on the tour: your ticket includes entry to Wentworth Woodhouse itself, a house with the longest facade in England, normally £15.50 on its own. Add 100-plus producers, celebrity chef demos, foraging and floristry masterclasses, a new Chat Stage, and the gleeful nonsense of Men v Food and Beat the Chef.
Smoke & Fire Festival — Maldon, Essex (15–16 August).
Live-fire cooking done properly — the BBQ world's answer to a music festival, all smoke, low-and-slow and open flame. If you own more than one thermometer, this one's for you.
Roost — Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (21–23 August).
Europe's first international chicken festival, formerly WingJam and relaunched with food creator Eating with Tod. Thirty-odd traders, more than 100 chicken dishes, and genuine international entries — Chicken Baptiser from South Carolina, Charles Pan Fried Chicken and Pecking House from New York — going up against British names like Coqfighter and FOWL for a championship belt you vote on yourself. Ticketed from £26, with dishes bought separately from about £1.50. Halal options, live music, eating
competitions.
Great British Food Festival — West Horsley Place, Leatherhead, Surrey (22–23 August).
A brand-new venue for GBFF in 2026, and a lovely one: a historic Surrey manor house you've almost certainly seen on screen, in Enola Holmes, Howard's End, Vanity Fair, Mothering Sunday and — most recently— the BBC's Ghosts. Live stage entertainment, foraging walks, craft stalls and the run of the grounds, with house tours available as an add-on. Tickets are limited on this one.
Harrogate Food & Drink Festival — Ripley Castle, North Yorkshire (22–23 August).
Now in its seventh year, held in the grounds of a castle that's been in the same family for 700 years. Yorkshire producers, demos and a genuinely handsome setting — the sort of day out that justifies the drive on its own.
The Bank Holiday: pick your corner of the country
Deal Food & Drink Festival — Deal, Kent (26–31 August). Six days on the promenade beside Henry VIII's artillery castle, with the Channel on the other side. Live music stage, beach bar marquee, street food court, fairground rides and a stall list that runs from cheese, bakery and biltong to woodturning and pottery. Free to walk in, with ticketed comedy evenings in the marquee and a free foodie quiz on the Friday. More a day out than a shopping trip, but the setting is hard to beat and the grocery stalls are worth a look on your way past.
Big Feastival — Alex James' farm, Kingham, Cotswolds (28–30 August).
The big one, celebrating its 15th year. Basement Jaxx, Bastille and The Streets headline — the latter performing A Grand Don't Come For Free in full for the first time — with Rudim3ntal, Perrie, Doves, White Lies, Freya Ridings and The Coral also on the bill. In the Big Kitchen, Simon Rogan brings his farm-to-fork philosophy and Anna Haugh headlines ahead of her new MasterChef judging role, joined by Rachel Allen, Poppy Cooks, Sally Abé and Meera Sodha. Glastonbury with better lunch.
The Great Cornish Sardine Festival — Newlyn Harbour, Cornwall (29–30 August). Run by the Cornish Sardine Management Association — the fishermen and processors themselves — alongside Newlyn Harbour Lights and the restaurant Argoe. Sardines have been landed here for over 500 years, back when they were called pilchards and were salted, pressed into barrels and shipped to Italy; the old Cornish saying was "meat, money and light, all in one night". Expect sardines cooked every way there is, skippers showing people round their boats, and the Mousehole Male Voice Choir opening proceedings at half twelve on the Saturday. Only in its second year. Proceeds go to Newlyn Harbour Lights.
Bolton Food & Drink Festival — Bolton town centre (28–31 August).
Free to attend, 21 years old, and the people's champion of this list. James Martin returns for his 16th visit — he calls it "the best festival in the world" — with ticketed demos at the Albert Halls on the Saturday that sell out fast. Liberty X and The Real Thing headline the free music stages, alongside 180-plus stalls and free regional chef demos across the town centre. Four days, no ticket, no excuse.
Leeds African and Caribbean Food Fest — City Square, Leeds (29 August).
Back for the August Bank Holiday weekend, timed to coincide with the iconic Leeds West Indian carnival, this is a vibrant celebration of African and Caribbean food and culture in the heart of the city. Jerk chicken, curry goat, jollof rice, ackee and saltfish, meat patties and rum cake, washed down with sorrel and rum punch — plus live steelpan, calypso, a pop-up carnival flash-mob parade, and a children's create-and-play zone. Free samples on a first-come basis. 10am–6:30pm.
Foodies Festival — Oxford (29–31 August).
The Bank Holiday finale of the tour, with a substantial Cake & Bake theatre for anyone whose idea of a good time is watching someone else stress about a sponge. This one’s my local and I’ve not been able to make it for a few years so looking forward to it. Plus my daughter has passed her test and has a car so now me and mum have a designated driver. Result!
Great British Food Festival — Margam Park, South Wales (29–31 August).
GBFF closes the month with its Welsh stop in an 850-acre country park: chef demos, live-fire cooking, kids' cooking experiences and the Food Olympics, with the park's deer herd and orangery thrown in.
Hampton Court Palace Food Festival — East Molesey, Surrey (29–31 August).
Street food in Henry VIII's back garden, and the ticket that keeps giving: sixty acres of gardens, the famous maze and the palace itself are all included. Chef demos run through the weekend and there's plenty for children — a rare festival where the setting competes with the food for your attention.
Maldon Food & Drink Festival — Maldon, Essex (29–30 August).
Maldon’s second festival of the month (see Smoke & Fire above), and the gentler of the two: a celebration of Essex producers in the town that gave the world its best-known sea salt.
Festa Italiana — Manchester (Bank Holiday weekend).
Free, Italian, and a lovely antidote to the queues elsewhere — pasta, pizza, gelato and a piazza atmosphere in the middle of Manchester.