03 Feb 2025
Fifteen years since the inaugural St Albans Food and Drink Festival launched with a fortnight-long focus on the city’s hospitality businesses, the event has been replaced with a new spring celebration.
The St Albans Spring Festival, taking place on Sunday May 18, promises to be a celebration of food, well-being, community spirit and sustainability.
Organised by the district council, it will include live music, arts and crafts, street theatre and dozens of stalls selling takeaway food, drink and other produce.
The St Albans Feastival, the one-day September celebration which incorporated the old Food and Drink Festival, has now been axed as it was considered that time of year was already packed with other events.
The Food and Drink Festival was the brainchild of former SADC tourism manager Charles Baker, and launched in 2009 with a huge programme of events that also included the St Albans Food and Drink Awards, which were themselves scrapped last year.
Cllr Anthony Rowlands, SADC lead for events, explained: “We have rearranged our street events to give our residents an excellent choice of things to do from May all the way through to November.
“Our Feastival was held in September, but there are a lot of things going on in the late summer, such as Pub in the Park, and it was felt May was a better date for an event.
“The Spring Festival will mark the start of the warmer months and with the Christmas Cracker in November, our events will book-end the outdoor season.
“During that time, from May through to November, there will be many other events, run by a host of organisations. Residents and visitors will have an abundance of opportunities to get out and about and socialise with their friends and neighbours.”
The calendar of events taking place around the district this year includes:
Hertfordshire County Show, Redbourn – Saturday May 24 and Sunday May 25.
Foodies Festival, Oaklands College, St Albans – Friday May 30 to Sunday June 1.
Harpenden Carnival – Saturday June 7.
St Albans Half Marathon, Verulamium Park, St Albans – Sunday June 8.
Alban Day, a procession of giant puppets recreating the story of St Alban through the city to the Cathedral – Saturday June 21.
Highland Gathering, Rothamsted Park, Harpenden – Sunday July 13.
Comedy Garden, Verulamium Park, St Albans – Wednesday July 23 to Sunday July 27.
Classics on the Common, Harpenden – Wednesday July 23.
Pub in the Park, Verulamium Park, St Albans – Friday September 5 to Sunday September 7
Harpenden Food and Drink Festival – Saturday September 13.
Gin and Jazz Festival, George Street, St Albans – Friday October 3.
St Albans Cathedral Fireworks – Saturday November 1.
St Albans Christmas Cracker, St Peter’s Street – Sunday November 16.
Harpenden Christmas Carnival – Sunday November 23.
