You may remember me mentioning Warwick University’s ‘Feast’ project that I was involved in last year, looking into the history and culture behind the way we feast together. From set occasions and historical moments to the basic act of sharing food together, the ‘Feast’ project is a celebration of the central role food plays in our festivities.
As part of the programme, Warwick University’s Global Research Priority on Food has helped organise the Berkswell Beer Festival and Feast Food Fair – a unique event in one of Warwickshire’s most beautiful churches.
The festival, set to take place on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th March, will be held at St John the Baptist Church, Berkswell, in association with the My Parish network based in Warwick’s History department and the University’s Resonate Festival for Coventry UK City of Culture.
The two part event starts on the Friday evening with a beer festival in the church. Building on the medieval tradition of ‘church ales’, successfully revived at Berkswell in recent years, it will showcase the way that food and drink can help to bring people back together. Tickets are £10 each, including four food/drink tokens. Buy tickets here.
The next day, the ‘Feast! Food Fair’ will continue with a family-friendly focus. The day event will include talks from Warwick researchers on the history and meaning of hot chocolate, honey, the historical Coventry God Cake, and church ales.
There will be buffets of British and Sri Lankan dishes as well as tables featuring samples of food and drink prepared by parishioners from different cultural backgrounds. There will be free samples on offer, and a variety of additional food and drinks are also available to buy on the day.
Admission is free, but you need to register for on-line tickets here.
For more information on the event, have a look at the university’s teaser and full introductory video. Interested in church ales, historic brewing and why it is OK to stage a beer festival in a church? Check out this clip, blog post and discussion.
Please purchase your tickets for both days HERE
For other events and highlights of the ‘Feast’ programme, please visit our website.
