What is the #ForthValleyFoodFest?
The Forth Valley Food Fest is a food trail and promotional campaign to celebrate local food producers, providers and processors in the Forth Valley region! Running October 11th – 20th, the Festival aims to highlight the tastes of our local food landscape, connect visitors and residents to local food, and support our local food economy. Activites and events vary across the region - scroll down for Festival line-up.
The 2019 line-up for the
Forth Valley Food Fest includes:
** Click on the name of each event for web link and more information **
12th – 20th October, Arnprior Pumpkins
Arnprior, Various times
Pumpkins from £5 (pre-booking required)
Pick your own pumpkin, get lost in the kale maze, ride the quad pods, and sample some local food & drink at Arnprior Farm! They have over 7000 pumpkins for you to choose from, just hit the patch and find your perfect pumpkins. You’ll find big orange ones, green warty ones, white ones and stripy ones, whatever takes your fancy.
As well as pumpkin picking, there are also lots of activities to keep you busy including:
Pumpkins from £5. Pre-booking of parking spots required, no entrance fee. Full details and to book is on the Arnprior Pumpkins website here .
11th - 15th October, Stirling NeighbourFood
Online, Local food market open for pre-orders
Buying local couldn't be easier! Try out the regions' online ‘click and collect’ local food market, Neighbourfood, run by Forth Environment Link. Pre-order your locally produced staples - everything from bread, jam, cheese, dairy, eggs, meat and veg - online from Oct 11th - 15th, for pick-up at Made in Stirling at 44 King street on October 17th (16:30 - 18:30).
11th October, 10:00 - 16:00 - Plant a Tree & Gardening session
14th October, 14:00 - 16:00 - Gardening Sessions
Stirling University Community Garden
Did you know that the Green and Blue Space, part of the University of Stirlings' Students Union, has a beautiful organic community garden and a community orchard right on campus? Join co-ordinator Matt and other volunteers for a drop-in gardening session or tree-planting that is open to all, no experience needed.
Two different events are being held:
A drop-in gardening day as we plant 120 trees to create a new Student Community Orchard hedgerow and prepare the Community Garden beds for winter! No experience needed, just suitable outdoor clothing, footwear and a packed lunch if you want to join us for the day.
Proposed schedule:
10am - meet at Green and Blue Space (in the Atrium at Stirling University)
10:10am - walk up to the Student Community Orchard
10:20am - 12:30am - plant hedgerow saplings
12:30am - 4pm - head to the main Community Garden space and dig over and mulch beds
Dropping in after 10am and not sure where to go? Give Matt (Environmental Development Coordinator) a call on 07913 042383 for directions.
Meet at the Green & Blue Space, the environmental hub of Stirling University, in the Atrium at 13:50 to walk over to the garden together.
12th - 20th October, Meet the Goats at Gartur Stitch Farm
Port of Menteith, 11:00 - 13:00
£17, under-16s free (pre-booking required)
Come meet the animals at our small farm at the edge of the Trossachs.When you arrive, we will greet you with a cup of tea or coffee and homemade pastry or sourdough bread all made here in the farm kitchen, from local ingredients mostly grown or foraged here on the farm. Then we will get you suited up in gear suitable for being out with the animals. We will provide waterproofs and "farm gear" if required and usually have spare welly boots to fit if you'd like to stay as clean as possible.
We will then head out to the barn, where we will walk you through how to hand milk our dairy goat, Dascha. She is a lovely natured goat who will stand while you give milking a go. Then we will walk out to the field where you can hand feed our flock of Soay sheep. Soays are the UK's most primitive breed of sheep and, in our opinion, the cutest sheep on the plant. If you are lucky, you will get a cuddle from our two smallest sheep - Hamish and Angus, twin lambs born in May this year.
After feeding the sheep, we will head to the chicken coops where you can collect eggs from our small flock of chickens. Our rule is, if you collect it, you keep it, so you will get to take any eggs you find home with you.
Adults £17. Under-16s are free, but please let them know when booking for numbers. Book via Gartur Stitch Farm's website.
11th October, Make Your Own Wild Cocktails
Forth Inn - Aberfoyle, 19:00 - 21:30
£10- £25, over 18s only (pre-booking required)
Using locally foraged wild ingredients we will craft some cocktails and try them with some delicious samples from some of our local food producers, care of Neighbourfood market. Afterward enjoy your cocktail whilst watching a Taiko drumming performance, then have a go on the drums.
More about the Taiko drumming: We are pleased to showcase a taiko performance by some of the members Mugenkyo, the UK's only professional Taiko drummers. They can be found performing at events such as the special olympics ceremony, film openings, the grandprix, BBC proms amongst others.
19:00 - 20:00 Wild cocktails, local food nibbles & Taiko show - £25
20:30 - 21:30 Taiko show only - £10
Book via the Trossachs Wild Apothecary website here.
12th October, Stirling Farmers' Market
Port St. Stirling, 10:00 - 16:00
Buy locally made produce from the Forth Valley, and from across Scotland, at the Stirling Farmers’ Market. Some local vendors selling at the market include jams and chutneys from Perthshire Preserves (Stirling), sourdough bread and pastry from Riverside Bakery CIC (Stirling), and some sweet treats from Ochil Fudge (Alloa), Strathearn Cheese (Comrie) and more.
17th October, Stirling Neighbourfood collection
Made in Stirling, 16:30 - 18:30
Come pick up your pre-ordered local goodies for collection at Made in Stirling, 44 King street Stirling, 16:30 - 18.30. Neighbourfood Stirling, the online ‘click and collect’ local food market run by Forth Environment Link, is open every week. Purchase your local food - bread, jam, cheese, dairy, eggs, meat, veg and more - via this online market, open Thursdays - Tuesdays for following Thursday collection.
11th - 20th October, Local Food promotions at The Smiddy
The Smiddy Farm Shop in Blair Drummond, 09:00 - 17:00
Stop by the Smiddy Farm Shop & Butchery in Blair Drummond to browse, taste, and shop local! They will be running promotions in the butchery and cafe throughout the Forth Valley Food Festival to highlight their love for local. In the butchery, they are promoting local beef (from Lochfield Farm, Doune) and lamb from Grassmainston Farm, Clackmannan. There is also promotions on Old Leckie Eggs (Gargunnock) on the breakfast and lunch menu and in the shop, plus Monument Honey (Stirling) in the shop too. The Deli will be promoting cheese from the Strathearn Cheese Company, Comrie.
11th - 15th October, Seasonal Sourdough
Riverside Bakery CIC, Various locations to buy
Pumpkin bread or spiced apple buns anyone? Riverside Bakery CIC, Stirling's own sourdough bakery-by-bicycle is participating in this year's Food Festival by offering a range of special seasonal and local products!
Available at the Stirling Farmers' Market on Oct 12th, or via the Stirling Neighbourfood weekly online local food market (pre-order Oct 11th-15th for pick-up on the 17th) throughout the Festival period.
13th October, Tomnah'a Market Garden tour
Tomnah'a Farm at Comrie Croft - Comrie, 11:00 - 12:00, Free
Come visit Tomnah'a Market Garden in Comrie for a guided tour around their Market Garden - describing how they farm and some of the tools and techniques they use, and how they sell directly to their members. Come through the gate at the top of their field, and meet by the flower shed (first shed you come to).
Tomnah'a is a beautiful and bountiful Market Garden run by Cristy, Sam, Judith and a mighty crew of dedicated and brilliant volunteers. They grow delicious, fresh and vibrant produce including; breathtaking cut flowers, eggs from woodland free-ranging hens, a huge variety of vegetable, herbs, berries and more. By enriching and regenerating soil fertility they work in partnership with nature using wildlife friendly growing methods to increase biodiversity and resilient long term productivity. Farm tour is an informal guided tour, no need to book but please wear appropriate footwear and clothing.
19th & 20th October, October Chilli Feast & Film
Film Screening, Dinner & Discussion
The Old Mill Restaurant - Killearn
£25 (pre-booking required)
19:30 - Oct 19th & 17:00 - Oct 20th
The Old Mill Restaurant at Killearn have teamed up with local farm Foragers Foods, and filmmaker Zev Robinson, to create a unique evening film screening and dinner experience, held in the Old Mill's enchanting yurt. Diners will be treated to a screening of Zev's documentary 'The Great British Chilli' - a film reflecting on the evolution of food over the last couple of decades in the UK. The film has recently been re-edited to include Foragers Foods, a farm growing chillies near Killearn.
The film will be followed by a special three course locally-sourced menu, designed to show how mild chillies can be used to enhance the flavour of a dish without overpowering it. Film maker Zev Robinson, Old Mill owner Alice Silverwood, and Foragers farmer Gary McAlpine will also be on hand for a panel discussion. Watch the trailer here, and book below:
Book for October 19th (19:30) here -- Book for October 20th (17:00) here
Local Food Menu - inspired by & featuring Foragers' Chillies
12th & 19th October, Forage for your Pizza - Gartur Stitch Farm
Port of Menteith, 15:30 - 19:00
£25, under-16s £15 (pre-booking required)
Come learn how to forage in the woods with us and enjoy a woodfired pizza made with your finds.
After meeting at the farm, we will head straight out into the woods and fields to explore seasonal Scottish wild food. Our walk starts down the hedgerow, were we will look at common hedgerow plants that make excellent additions to the kitchen. Depending on the season, that may be sloes, blackberries, cherries, yarrow, hogweed, plaintain, rosehips, and many more. We will then go into the forest to hunt for edible mushrooms. We will cover only those mushrooms that are easily identified and with no close non-edible lookalikes. While in the woods, we will talk about where to forage and the laws around foraging in Scotland.
We won't just cover food uses, on our walk, we will also cover some medicinal herbs and plants that are used for natural dyeing.
We will head back to our farm (by way of the herb garden and polytunnel) where we will use our finds to make delicious wood fired sourdough pizzas to enjoy together.
11th October, The Scottish Breed film screening - Stirling University
Film Screening & Discussion
Lecture Hall W1 - Stirling University
Free
Come hear the stories about local provenance in livestock production, with a focus on quality meat and rare-breed varieties. At 7pm, Oct 11, in Lecture Hall W1, Stirling University will be screening Zev Robinson's documentary about quality meat production, The Scottish Breed - watch the trailer here. It will be presented by the filmmaker and followed a panel discussion led by Rachel Norman, researcher in Food Security at the University. Not to be missed for anyone interested in local food production, circular economies and the environment. No booking required.
What is the #ForthValleyFoodFest?
The Forth Valley Food Fest is a food trail and promotional campaign to celebrate local food producers, providers and processors in the Forth Valley region!
There are opportunities to sample and buy local products, listen to the stories of how our food goes from field to folk, and experience food production up close. There are a mix of participating businesses, communities and organisations who are local food producers, processors, providers and supporters. No matter what type of participant, all have the common focus on high quality, seasonal, and locally sourced food.
Why the #ForthValleyFoodFest ?
For the overall Forth Valley Food Festival, we want to celebrate, highlight, and support our local food producers, processors and providers across the region.
For the initial promotional/social media campaign, we want to kick off the overall Food Fest, and invite partners to collaborate and be involved in future activities – to work together to host a local food event, a harvest dinner, a food trail, a farm tour, etc.
We also want:
Forth Valley Food Fest 2019
at a glance ...
11th - Make Your Own Wild Cocktails - Aberfoyle
11th - Plant a Fruit Tree & Gardening - Stirling Uni
11th - The Scottish Breed Film - Stirling Uni
12th - Stirling Farmers' Market - Stirling
12th - Forage for your Pizza - Port of Menteith
13th - Tomnah'a Market Garden Tour - Comrie
14th - Stirling University Gardening session - Stirling
17th - Stirling Neighbourfood Collection - Stirling
19th - October Chilli Feast & Film - Killearn
19th - Forage for your Pizza - Port of Menteith
20th - October Chilli Feast & Film - Killearn
11th - 20th - The Smiddy Farm Shop & Butchery, local food promotions - Blair Drummond
11th - 15th - Stirling Neighbourfood, online market open for orders - Online
12th - 27th - Arnprior Farm, Pick Your Own Pumpkins - Arnprior
11th - 20th - Gartur Stitch Farm, Meet the Goats & Other Animals - Port of Menteith
11th - 15th - Riverside Bakery CIC, seasonal sourdough products - various locations to buy
