If you’re anything like me, you like to pack a few snacks and a hot drink when you’re travelling by train. Food on the train is fair enough but why not go one step better and take a train ride to one of the UK’s many food festivals?
Food festivals celebrate the very best of our cuisine, our skilled chefs, and our traditional and modern produce. With buying-local coming to the front of everyone’s food-purchase thinking, visiting a food festival is a great way to find out more about how your food is produced, and how you can support local growers and producers.
And what better way to do that than by train?
Summer music festivals you can attend by train
Choosing which food festival to visit however, can get a bit complicated. With seafood festivals, plant-based celebrations and even sausage trails (more about that later), it can be tricky to decide where to get off your train.
It can also be tricky to avoid eating so much you don’t fit back on the train at the end of the day!
It would be really good fun to plan a long train journey that took you around the UK to sample a whole variety of festival food.
But unless you paced your carriage for the whole journey, that would also be fattening!
Instead we’ve put together a list of five UK food festivals you can attend by train. Feel free to visit and eat at as many as you like.
But don’t forget to sneak away a little picnic for the train journey home!
The Big Feastival – 26th, 27th & 28th August 2022
With big name music stages, disco options and even camping, The Big Feastival is so much more than a food festival. But don’t let your tummy rumble, the food will be there too. In abundance!
- Train Station: Kingham
- Travel time from London: 1.5 hours
- Travel time from Bristol: 2.5 hours
- Festival location: Kingham, Oxfordshire, OX7 6UJ
- Walk time from station: 3 minutes
- Toilets: Kingham Station and on site
- Ticket price: £102.50 (adult day ticket)
- Optional extras: Supper clubs, the M&S Cookery School, up-close table sessions and axe throwing!
- Accessibility information: Big Feastival disabled access
Top foodie highlight – The Big Feastival
Street food! With so much of it available, you’re going to have to pace yourself or learn to eat cookie dough ice-cream for breakfast.
Bournemouth Vegan Festival – September 3rd 2022
Food festivals don’t always have to be about the meat eaters. As UK interest in plant-based diets grows, so do the number of smaller vegan and vegetarian food festivals. If you’ve already taken the plunge or are interested in trying out new ways of eating, the Bournemouth Vegan Festival could be the right one for you.
- Train station: Bournemouth
- Travel time from London: 2 hours
- Travel time from Bristol: 2.5 hours
- Festival location: Holdenhurst Rd, Boscombe, Bournemouth
- Walk time from station: 24 minutes
- Toilets: Bournemouth Station
- Ticket price: £15 (VIP fast track ticket)
- Optional extras: Vegan skincare products, clothing and so many pies!
- Accessibility information: Bournemouth accessibility guide
Top foodie highlight – Bournemouth Vegan Festival
Say Chease plant-based cashew and almond cheeses, and Vdogs meat-free hot dogs.
Ludlow Food Festival – 9th, 10th & 11th September 2022
Sitting happily in the middle of prime farming countryside, Ludlow is a lot about its food for most of the year. Join in the special celebrations of this food-lovers paradise at the Ludlow Food Festival.
- Train station: Ludlow
- Travel time from London: 3 hours
- Travel time from Bristol: 2 hours
- Festival location: Ludlow Castle, SY8 1AY
- Walk time from station: 13 minutes
- Toilets: Ludlow Castle and Castle Street, Ludlow
- Ticket price: £13.50 (adult day pass)
- Optional extras: Brewery tours, cocktail workshops, the Real Ale Trail and Saturday’s Fire and Feast meal
- Accessibility information: Accessibility Ludlow Food Festival
Top foodie highlight – Ludlow Food Festival
The Ludlow Sausage Trail (Saturday). You’ll need to buy tickets!
SEAFEAST the Dorset Seafood Festival – 10th & 11th September 2022
The UK has over 31,000 kilometres of coastline so it would be rude to ignore our amazing fish and seafood communities. And why would you want to? With food, drink and sea shanties a-plenty, the Dorset Seafood Festival is set to celebrate the very best of all things fishy. While you’re on the coast, this one is a great opportunity to visit the beach by train.
- Train station: Weymouth
- Travel time from London: 3 hours
- Travel time from Bristol: 2.5 hours
- Festival location: Weymouth Harbour
- Walk time from station: 12 minutes
- Toilets: Weymouth Station and Cove Street Weymouth
- Ticket price: £10 (adult day ticket Saturday)
- Optional extras: The School of Fish (free children’s cookery workshop), seafood street food and Sparkling Dorset wines
- Accessibility information: The Dorset Seafood Festival access statement
Top foodie highlight – SEAFEAST, Dorset Seafood Festival
The Outcasts. Three super-ugly fish that taste delicious but are under-utilised in the UK. By eating more of these we can help protect our fish stocks.
York Food & Drink Festival – 23rd September to 2nd October 2022
With its wonderful National Railway Museum, York is the perfect place to visit by train. Make sure you leave time for the food though.
- Train Station: York
- Travel time from London: 2 hours
- Travel time from Bristol: 4 hours
- Festival location: Parliament Street, York, YO1 8SG
- Walk time from station: 15 minutes
- Toilets: York Station and Silver Street (charges apply)
- Ticket price: Free festival market and demonstrations (with some ticketed events)
- Optional extras: Children’s Recipe Trail, young chef competition and live music
- Accessibility information: York Food & Drink Festival information
Top foodie highlight – York Food & Drink Festival
The Festival Taste Trail will take you on an indulgent wander to sample local produce.
Adventures by train – the day I nearly didn’t walk across the Severn Bridge
Adventures by train – sea swimming along South Devon’s Riviera Line