WILD cocktails, wild ice-cream and a taste local picnic are among the items that will be on the menus at a new festival being launched in Scotland next month.
The Scottish Wild Food Festival will take place at Cardross Estate in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park on September 14, funded by Forth Valley and Lomond LEADER.
Visitors to the festival will be able to take part in a range of free and paid-for events and activities throughout the day, with something to suit every age.
It will include hands-on foraging workshops, wild walks and plant folklore. The day will be punctuated by two long-table feasts prepared by some of Scotland’s top chefs.
The festival line-up includes a Wild Food and Chocolate Pairing Challenge from award-winning chocolatier Charlotte Flowers
A Taste Wild, Taste Local Picnic will bring a chance to sample tasty nibbles at a picnic of locally produced foods intertwined with wild ingredients. There will be a jam and curd-making demonstration from jamming expert Kate Thornhill of Perthshire Preserves and Mindful Wild Tea Tasting with Green Tree Remedies.
Behind the festival is a group of 12 local people brought together on a programme aimed at enabling local businesses to include wild food and foraging in the activities they offer.
Devised by Mark Williams of Galloway Wild Foods, in partnership with Forth Valley and Lomond LEADER, the festival is part of a cross-cultural project with LEADER areas in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Scotland. LEADER is an EU-funded rural grant programme designed to support local businesses to create jobs and support the rural economy.
For more about the festival, see www.foragingfortnight.co.uk/scottish-wild-food-festival/
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