The first ever Plymouth Street Food Festival took place last bank holiday weekend and saw 20 top street food venders from across the country at Central Park – and apart from the inevitable queuing, it was an unmissable event in the area. The hosts also run Cornwall and Devon Street Food Festivals in Newquay and Ilfracombe, and all events see venders from across the UK trade a huge variety of world cuisine.
The tickets to this event for all three days were free and available online, making the event hugely accessible. Parking was difficult, but this was unavoidable due to the festival taking place on the same weekend as a match at Argyle. We queued for about 20 minutes to get into the event at 2pm, with the scent of world cuisine wafting around the park. The venue was small enough that it took only a few minutes to walk around all 20 venders and then chose our first sample of the day. The food ranged from seafood, Afghan, Moroccan, Japanese, sweet treats and much more.
The event also had entertainment throughout the day. On Saturday as we arrived, Andy Quick filled the venue with a retro alternative acoustic set until 3 o’clock and was then followed by a 4-hour disco DJ set by Pedro From Lisbon. Plenty of seating and space ensured everyone at the event could sit and enjoy some amazing food in the sun with some brilliant music or have a boogie like lots of festival goers were!
The pricing of the event was as expected for a street food event but did range due to the individual venders and their own prices. The only negative of the event was the pop-up bar – the food venders were not selling drinks (apart from the Barista Boys coffee pop up) and so if you wanted a beer, cocktail or soft drink you had to join the long queue for the bar which seemed to move especially slowly.
The whole event was family and dog friendly, and the atmosphere throughout the day was fantastic. I felt relaxed and safe during the whole event and everyone around had a smile on their faces, especially the dogs! All the food was delicious, my absolute favourite being the Afghan wrap from 2 Lads Kitchen.
I hope this event becomes annual and continues to bring the community together with fantastic food and entertainment.
To find out more about Plymouth Food Festival visit : Plymouth Street Food Festival