UPDATED – 18th June (see below)
Coventry BID has announced today (Tuesday 16th March) that the Coventry Food Festival will be returning to the city from the 23rd – 25th July, with Michelin Star chef Theo Randall taking the headline slot on the Saturday and Lesley Waters on the Sunday.
Following the huge success of the Festival in 2019, where the city welcomed thousands* of additional visitors into the centre, the Coventry BID team is looking to make this year’s event bigger and better than ever.
After what has been an incredibly tough year for businesses throughout the city and region, particularly in the food and drink sector, the Coventry Food Festival is part of the BID’s toolbox to recovery, as the city comes back to life post-COVID and as it enters its UK City of Culture year.
Kicking off on Friday 23rd July, the Festival is aiming to host the largest selection of artisan food producers in the region. With dedicated zones for gluten-free and vegan produce, visitors will be able to eat their way around the world with stunning street food and some of the finest producers of cheese, chutney, eggs and sweet treats – all served with pop-up bars, cocktails, demonstrations and live music.
Trish Willetts, Director at Coventry BID, comments: “We are incredibly proud and excited to be bringing the Coventry Food Festival back into our great city this July and are aiming for it to be bigger and better than ever! It’s a huge year for Coventry as UK City of Culture, and as all our great businesses start opening again as part of the Government’s roadmap to recovery post-COVID.
“We are aiming to bring some additional joy and celebration into the city centre across the Food Festival weekend, with stalls across Broadgate, demonstrations from our amazing celebrity chefs – Theo and Lesley – and some fantastic live music.
“Of course, it’s our hope that everything will be back to normal at this point, but we are also working closely with our partners to ensure we are COVID-compliant and able to welcome people back safely.”
Further announcements will be made in the coming weeks regarding music acts, exhibitors and special guests joining the weekend of foodie celebrations, so watch this space!
* The 2019 Food Festival saw the city centre footfall reach over 140,000 over the three-day period, with a 20% increase in visitors thanks to the Food Festival.
Coventry’s ‘Big Foodie Weekend’ Rescheduled
Further to the latest Government announcement regarding the four-week delay to the next stage of the roadmap, the Coventry BID team have made the tough decision to reschedule the ‘Big Foodie Weekend’, which was due to take place from the 23rd – 25th July across the city.
BID Chairman Andy Talbot, comments: “Whilst this is obviously disappointing news for a lot of people – ourselves included – it is not a decision we have taken lightly. But, we must remember that we are all still in the grips of a global pandemic.
“The health and safety of all those involved – and planning to attend – the ‘Big Foodie Weekend’ is paramount. With this week’s Government announcement that the next stage of the roadmap is to be delayed until at least the 19th July – just a few days before the intended start of the event – postponing the ‘Big Foodie Weekend’ was the most sensible and safest thing to do”.
Assistant BID Manager, Adrian Woolford adds; “We are continuing to work hard behind the scenes to ensure that we can come back with an even bigger and better offering next year when we return, 17-19th June. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and understanding over the last few days as we’ve reached out to all parties involved. Anyone who has purchased tickets for the evening music events will be contacted directly via the ticketing agency regarding refunds.”
“Although this is not the news we wanted to share, we remain proud of the events we continue to bring to Coventry, including the stunning In Paint We Trust and The Show Windows, as part of our City of Culture 2021 celebration year. These are fantastic legacy projects that will put Coventry in good stead for when all venues can reopen. We will not let Covid beat Cov.”
