I’ve yammered on about the FEAST Festival that I’m involved in before, and it’s underway! We’re into week three of the six-week festival now, which isn’t just online but has a whole host of live events through November and December too. In case you’re still wondering what FEAST is all about, it aims to celebrate Coventry and Warwickshire’s rich culinary history.
Staff and students at the University of Warwick, Coventry City of Culture 2021, Coventry BID, Destination Coventry and yours truly have been working together to showcase some of the history and culture behind festive food in the region, as well as looking at ingredients, techniques and origin stories. Through a series of videos, we’ve looked at a different elements of celebration food that make up our festive feasts, telling stories of why they’re important and looking at some of our great producers and restaurateurs in the area.
FEAST Events
The festival, which runs until Sunday, December 12th, will also feature various pop-up events giving you guys the chance to discover new dishes. They include the following:-
Saturday, December 4 & Sunday, December 5: ‘Exhi-BEANtion’ – Organised by Tales from Coventry Tables, this free online tasting will feature four tasty dishes created using the humble bean: Developed at the University of Warwick, grown in Warwickshire, cooked in Coventry. This event is suitable for families; all dishes are vegan and clearly marked with allergy notices and full ingredient listings. So why not gather the family round a screen, big or small, and let’s talk about beans… To book, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-exhi-bean-tion-tasting-tickets-209825643147
Wednesday, December 8: A Festive Market hosted by Warwick Retail will then head to the Piazza at the university’s central campus.
Friday, December 10 and Saturday, December 11: Feats Food Fair in Berkswell. This two-part fair will feature a Beer Festival inside St John the Baptist Church, Berkswell on Friday from 7pm – 10.30pm, celebrating the medieval custom of church ales with local ales brewed in Coventry and the local region including Twisted Barrel Ale Brewery and Tap House in Fargo Village, Coventry, Byatts Brewery in Coventry and Church End Brewery in Warwick. It is held in collaboration with The Spirit of Berkswell project and the My-Parish network based in Warwick’s History department. Tickets cost £10, inclusive of four food and drink tokens, and are available here: https://bit.ly/BerksFeastFair
On Saturday December 11, 10.30am – 3.30pm, the Feast Food Fair will have more of a family-friendly focus on festive fare with lots of food to sample including Coventry Godcakes and Berkswell Cheese alongside festive dishes from Slovakia, Italy and Poland. More substantial Sri Lankan and British specialities will be available to buy.
Saturday, December 11 – A celebration of Festive cooking in Greek and Roman antiquity at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry. Organised by the Classics and Ancient History department.
Submit your FEAST recipe
On top of all this, we’re asking producers, individuals and restaurants to submit your own FEAST recipe so we can compile a huge catalogue of a range of FEAST dishes from different backgrounds, cultures and styles. If you want to submit your recipe it’s super simple, just fill in the details below and send an image and you’ll be part of a whole collection of FEAST dishes from across Coventry & Warwickshire.
Name and contact details: –
Restaurant: –
Name of your festive / celebratory dish: –
Description of your dish (max 300 words): –
Why is this dish special to you? (When would you make it? Do you have a special memory of this
dish? Where did it come from? Do you use it to celebrate? In what way?)
Please send a picture of your dish (if you need help taking a quality picture of your dish, please let
me know, we’ll be happy to help):
For more information visit www.resonatefestival.co.uk/events/ feast-food-festival
