Following a few teaser posts on my Instagram, it’s about time I gave a bit of detail about the Tynemouth Food Festival.
After a day of exploring the food markets and stalls, as well as grabbing a spot of lunch, I’ve sat down to collate all my favourites in two handy little posts for you!
The great thing about the Tynemouth Food Festival is that most of the products are locally sourced and produced, so picking up a trinket or snack here and there is often only bad for your bank balance.
Set in the grounds of the beautiful Tynemouth Castle, I took the opportunity to poke around a bit. Sadly I went on Saturday, which was miserably grey compared to the streaming sunshine of the next day!
The castle stood eerily masked in fog rolling off the sea, and we delved into the maze of tents and stalls for a peek (and tasters!).
Gooey fudge and crunchy Scotch tablet, artisan chocolate and thick, chunky brownies filled the room.
Ellie’s Cupcake Kitchen made a welcome appearance.
As did the award-winning Davenports chocolates.
As possibly the biggest fudge fan known to man, I had to stop off at the Johnson’s Toffees stall (totally worth it, despite the damage to my waistline).
Wheatberry have long been a health-food favourite of mine.
A slice of falafel triangle is the perfect size and easy to pack for a weekday lunch, and their range of salads changes seasonally, providing variety.
Would a food festival be complete without a cheese hamper?
Courtesy of Weardale Cheese, delicious, crumbly blocks of St Cuthbert’s next to creamy goat’s cheese, excellently priced.
Lately, I’ve been going nuts for olives, stuffed peppers, sundried tomatoes, etc. Maybe it’s the weather taking me back to long-ago Greek holidays, maybe it’s my adult tastebuds making an appearance. Either way, these were juicy and sweet, and very reasonable.
Sadly I forgot to grab their name, but if anyone knows please let me know in the comments!
(Sorry vegetarians).
Bestie C was delighted to find out that Spicy Monkey Curry carried a whole range of cook-at-home sauces that are not only tasty but also completely nut-free! Not often do those allergic find a tagine that won’t turn them purple.
This post wouldn’t be complete without a mention of one of my favourite home-grown vendors.
The Geordie Banger Company. Caramelised onion and black pepper gets me up on a lazy Sunday.
And beautiful Toon-grown coffee. Sure, we all know and love the OCC, but sometimes a little variety doesn’t hurt.
Sleek packaging and on-brand, catchy titles, the Tynemouth Coffee Company deserve a healthy dollop of recognition in this post.
And then, outside to the plethora of hot food stalls.
From old favourites (enter The Fat Hippo) to new names like the North Street Feast (we had a large naan with yoghurt chicken curry; so big we couldn’t finish between three of us!).
I broke the mould with a zebra burger. Kind of like beef, but… beefier?
We didn’t get anything from here but how cute is it?!
There was plenty of other entertainment on offer, including an exercise-bike fuelled smoothie maker to raise awareness for healthy eating, which I thought was ingenious and really cute!
If you hate spiders, you might want to look away now… The local amazing animals-type petting zoo had come to advertise their creeeeeeeeeeeepy crawlies!
The sea cadets were everywhere to be found, collecting money for entry (£3), and performing in marching bands, adding yet another nautical note to the coastal festival.
This had to be my favourite stall of the day. Just look at the colours! My Posh Pots are a Spanish company that deals through local vendors.
I wanted every. Single. Piece.
They honestly look even better in real life.
Barca ran the bar, with live music playing and merry-making from several of the more tipsy visitors! I’m planning on visiting soon, if you’d like to hear more then let me know!
Well done to everyone who pulled this festival off. A great success and a fun day out, as well as allowing local and regional vendors a platform from which to advertise their wares.
I’ll definitely be repeat-visiting next year.
Sorry it’s been so long since my last post guys- hopefully this behemoth makes up for it! Lots more where this came from; leave any comments below!
Peace and love,
The NCLinsider xx
NCLinsider 