05 Jun 2023
James Cameron and family head to Oaklands College for the inaugural St Albans Foodies Festival..
The Foodies Festival is a new arrival on the St Albans festival scene, joining the likes of Pub in the Park and Comedy Garden. These touring shows roll into town on their journey around the country much as the circus used to, and they couldn’t have picked a better day to come to Oaklands College. The sky was clear, the sun was shining down and everyone was in the mood to party.
As you would expect, Foodies Festival has an emphasis on dining, with a wide array of food stalls plus a tent for chefs to show off their wares by cooking main courses, and another focusing on sweet treats.
Throughout the field you could find a wide array of bars selling pretty much anything you could think of with an alcoholic content, plus a drinks theatre where the producers could talk you through what was on offer.
The fun fair was universally popular but probably the biggest draw was the music stage featuring acts as diverse as Scouting for Girls and Natalie Imbruglia (AKA Panda from the Masked Singer/Beth from Neighbours depending on your age).
We visited on the Sunday, and we went early. I would recommend this approach as it gives you a chance to scope out what’s on offer whilst it’s all still pretty calm and quiet. The
downside of this was that I found myself polishing off three beers in very quick succession before midday.
These were courtesy of Salcombe Brewery who were first up in the drinks theatre, and it was great to be able to actually experience the product as you heard all about how it was produced. The talk also featured a surprising number of anecdotes about film director Guy Ritchie, which was an unexpected bonus.
After this we went in search of food. We tried to experience as many of the stalls as possible, but this wasn’t easy as most places only did fairly substantial meals. It would have been nice if there had been a general policy of offering smaller portions to allow you to do the rounds.
One good example was a very reasonably priced cup of soft and juicy plantain chips from 3C’z. As it was, probably due to the whole circus vibe, I went for a mozzarella corn-dog which was as good as you would expect deep-fried and battered cheese to be although for some reason it only featured half a hot dog sausage.
The rest of the family went for vegan fish and chips from Every Fish bar which proved to be the absolute star of the whole festival experience! Somehow, the chef had skillfully flaked the soya filling to resemble a soft mackerel type texture and not only was it encased in a succulent batter but he had imaginatively created a pretend fish skin on the bottom with a crispy fried seaweed. It was better than any real fish skin I had tasted and took vegan fish to an entirely new level too!
After lunch we took in a couple of the demonstrations. Firstly, there was a delicious looking lamb and chorizo dish from natural showman and MasterChef champion Dhruv Baker, then for pudding we were instructed on how to make vegan meringues and macarons by local baker Jade Ria Talsena from Petite Boulangerie (lots of aquafaba is the answer.)
How much you enjoy these probably depends on how much you enjoy watching people cook food that you aren’t going to get to eat but as fans of the Great British Menu this was not a problem for us. Also, if you sit at the front and move quickly you may be able to grab some at the end.
I had planned to have another go at the food stalls afterwards but found myself completely sated. This is because the Foodies Festival manages to take the best bits of the Herts County Show (essentially getting free food samples) with considerably less scurry racing.
Even better, as the food is generally thrust on you as you walk around you can avoid those awkward moments where you have to feign an interest in their cheese production methods and pretend that you’ll be back later to buy something.
There was plenty to keep the kids occupied, including axe-throwing, bubble tea and a stall selling Prime slushies for anyone already feeling nostalgic for last year’s energy drink fad.
Probably the most fun you can have, though, is to just hang out by the stage, sample as many of the bars as possible and enjoy the music. I would particularly recommend the lemon and lime rum slushie, although if you are going to follow this approach it’s worth ensuring that you don’t have any chores left to be done that day (such as writing an article for a popular local online magazine.)
The music was generally cover bands, but no less fun for it and the headliners were surprisingly big names. We actually left before Scouting for Girls came on, but there were plenty of people still arriving suggesting that they were one of the main draws for those attending that day.
Considering the relatively cheap ticket price there is a lot going on at the Foodies Festival.
Entrance for a family of four is under fifty pounds, although unless you’re particularly shameless with the samples you’ll have to spend a bit more once you’re inside. You can also pay an extra five pounds to get a goodie bag on exit, whether this is good value or not depends on how much of a fan of bone broth you are.
One overall disappointment was the lack of recycling facilities on site. It was the same story at the Herts County Show this year. I really feel that festivals need to get this sorted, especially one where sustainability in food choices is such a focus.
All in all, though, I very much hope that the Foodies Festival returns to St Albans next year as it was a fantastic celebration of eating, drinking and generally having a good time.
