Fabulous Food Festivals In Hastings And Rye

Making the most of the local produce to be found here in East Sussex, Hastings & 1066 Country has a growing number of food festivals on its annual events calendar.

With the Bexhill Sea Angling Festival and the Hastings Seafood & Wine Festival neatly juxtaposed on consecutive weekends in September, Rye and Hastings continue the foodie theme well into November.

Wild Boar Week, Rye - Saturday 26 October - Sunday 3 November 2013

Wild boar is a regular feature of the woods around the beautiful medieval town of Rye, and each October Rye goes 'wild' about boar, celebrating this local delicacy of the field, from 26 October - 3 November 2013.

Hundreds of years ago wild boar freely roamed Britain but they were the arch enemy of farmers and were hunted to near extinction in the 17th Century. Some were still bred on farms in Kent and Sussex, but over 20 years ago a few escaped and their numbers have risen dramatically in the past few years. The debate continues as to whether they are pesty pigs or essential to our environment.

Al Ball is a forester by trade but hunts boar in his spare time, with a licence to cull these animals. He hunts in the areas of Udimore / Peasmarsh, just outside Rye, and supplies to local hotels. The BBC Radio 4 Food Programme recently featured the wild boar to be found here in Sussex in all its free range, hairy glory. Here's also a fascinating piece of footage about the wild boar in woods outside Rye http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qy2fs

This year's Wild Boar Week will feature about 20 venues in and around Rye who will be showcasing wild boar and other medieval dishes on their menu. New for 2013 is a Wild Boar Food Safari - not a shotgun in sight - and a children's trail around the town. Truly medieval food for a medieval town.
http://wildboar.org.uk/

Hastings Herring Fair, Hastings 9 - 10 November 2013

Fish is big news in Hastings. The largest beach launched fishing fleet in Europe has Marine Stewardship Council accreditation for the methods it uses to catch herring, mackerel and Dover sole. The inshore fleet is composed of boats all under 10 metres in length and Paul Joy, head of the Hastings fleet, is no stranger to Brussels and Downing Street in these days of controversial topics such as quota regulations, discard and bi-catch.

The second annual Hastings Herring Fair, run by the Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG), aims to build on the success of last year's event. Stalls over the two days will showcase herring cookery and smoking skills. Talks, films and exhibitions in the Stade Hall and Fishermen's Museum will tell the history of herring fishery. Billingsgate Fish Cookery School, Greenpeace and the Marine Stewardship Council will be in attendance.

This is the ideal chance to discover the picturesque and quirky Hastings Old Town, the Stade fishing and cultural quarter with the iconic black Hastings net shops, and learn about the importance of the Hastings fishing fleet, as it battles for survival in the face of harsh quota restrictions.

Download here the leaflet about Hastings Stade (Saxon word for 'landing place') http://www.visit1066country.com/explore-1066-country/hastings/the-stade

Please contact Jane Ellis for further details of the above or if you would like to visit and find out more first hand. We welcome press trips for commissioned articles and are happy to discuss other options.

Jane Ellis: jmellis@hastings.gov.uk 01424 451113