THE PORTHLEVEN FOOD FESTIVAL 2024 IS EXPECTED TO TAKE PLACE OVER A WEEKEND IN APRIL 2024 IN THE BEAUTIFUL CORNISH TOWN. COME HUNGRY FOR ONE OF THE BEST FOOD FESTIVALS IN CORNWALL 2024…
Food, glorious food. We all love incredible nosh, especially when it’s local. And the annual Porthleven Food Festival is all about great Cornish grub. This celebration of all things gourmet takes place in Porthleven every spring and there’s always a scrumptious side order of live music to go with one of the best foodie weekends of the year in Cornwall. Prepare for a tasty time at the Porthleven Food Festival 2024, which is expected to take place over a weekend in April 2024.
Porthleven‘s food festival is billed as an ‘award-winning, community-led not-for-profit event’ that ‘brings families and foodies together’. It’s certainly not for profit because enjoying the ‘eats and beats’ around Porthleven‘s picturesque harbour are totally and utterly free. Yup, no tickets are needed because the organisers want to ‘keep the festival free for anyone who can’t afford it’. However, they did concede just before the 2022 edition that it ‘costs £150,000 to run the festival in its current format’ and that ‘we have a gap in funding’ so do donate cash when you’re there, if you can, to help ‘secure its future’.
The three-day celebration is presented in partnership with much-loved chef Jude Kereama and it aims to celebrate Cornish food and drink producers, plus stimulate the local economy in the town. For the 2023 fest, celebrity chef and ‘returning festival supporter’ Anthony Worrall Thompson presented the event alongside Kereama.
The festival, which is one of the best food festivals in Cornwall 2024, features an impressive lineup of leading chefs who will present cooking demonstrations and talks, ‘sparking conversations around food sustainability and produce ecology’. The 2023 chef lineup included Emily Scott, James Knappett, Adam Handling, Tom Barnes and many other leading culinary lights.
New guest chef ‘feast nights’ during the 2023 fest were a big hit and there was an array of food experiences alongside workshops, family activities and other fun entertainment. A food market, street food offerings and live music during the day and night were also hits in 2023.
But what to expect at the Porthleven Food Festival 2024? Well, in short, we don’t yet know until the details and dates are officially announced. But we do know there’ll be some fab local bands playing the fest and we also know there’ll be a party atmosphere. In 2023, acts like Smokey’s King Shufflers, Oh My God! It’s The Church and the Old Time Sailors were big hits. DJs also played The Diner’s Club, a tented food space where only the finest catering outlets served up taster dishes during the day and night alongside acoustic gigs and talks.
There were also loads of offerings for kids in 2023, such as circus skills workshops, craft activities and parades. And one big new element was the ‘Feast at The Net Loft’ series with creative British chefs. Guest dishes were served up by Jude Kereama, as well as Guy Owen and Andrew Tuck, as all three talents had competed on the BBC Two TV programme ‘Great British Menu’. Hosted by Rupert Cooper of the Philleigh Way Cookery School, the night feasts and Sunday lunch took place in the repurposed Net Loft.
Awareness is always raised at the festival on ‘key issues relating to the environment, food culture and sustainable food production’. More than 35,000 people could visit the festival in 2024, which is based at the harbourside but actually takes over the whole town.
There are car parks next to the festival site, so use them. Do not clog up the roads around the area. But do clog up your arteries with grand grub. No, seriously, bring an empty stomach to this fabulous festival of food at the front of Porthleven. This is the way that the best tuck in Cornwall should be celebrated. Watch this space for more details!