July is when food festival season really hits its stride. Across the UK and Ireland the grounds of stately homes, seaside parks and town centres fill with artisan markets, chef demos, street food and live music. Here are the ones worth planning a day — or a weekend — around this month, right across England, Scotland and Wales.
A quick word before you set off: festival dates and details can change, so always check the official site and book ahead where you can. Links below go straight to each event. Two big names — the Great British Food Festival and Foodies Festival — tour the country all summer, and we've listed their July stops under each region below.
England
Great British Food Festival — Compton Verney, Warwickshire (4–5 July). Artisan market, street food, chef demos and live music in the grounds of a stately home.
Foodies Festival — Tatton Park, Cheshire (10–12 July). Chef theatres, a bake tent and live music in the Cheshire parkland.
Lymington Seafood Festival — Bath Road Park, Hampshire (10–12 July). A waterside showcase of coastal produce, marking its tenth year with 80-plus stalls, cookery classes and live music.
Foodies Festival — Winchester (17–19 July). The touring festival pitches up at North Walls Recreation Ground.
Rock Oyster Festival — Dinham House, North Cornwall (23–26 July). Oysters, eclectic line-ups and a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere on the Camel estuary.
Great British Food Festival — Holdenby House, Northamptonshire (25–26 July). Another stately-home stop on the GBFF tour.
Wing Fest — London Stadium, London (24–26 July). Wings, wings and more wingadings. Nothing could be better.
Saltburn Food Festival — Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire (26 July). Free seaside street food festival now in its 11th year — 150 stalls, live cookery demos, and up to 20,000 visitors descending on the town for the day.
Scotland
Taste Scotland Food Festival — Pittencrieff Park, Dunfermline (5–6 July). Street food and live music in one of Fife's loveliest parks.
Edinburgh Food Festival — George Square Gardens, Edinburgh (24 July-02 August). Billed as the city's only free-to-enter food festival, with Scottish street kitchens, demos and folk music as the Fringe warms up.
Wales
Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival — Cardiff (3–5 July). A three-day waterfront feast of farmers' markets, cooking demos, street food and Welsh delicacies.
However you spend it, summer is the best time of year to meet the people behind the food — and to discover a producer or two you'll want to seek out long after the festival's packed up. If you find a gem at one of these, tell us about it — we're always looking for our next myfoody pick.