Edinburgh Food Festival reveals what’s on the menu for 2023

The popular event is Edinburgh’s only free-to-enter food festival and will run over ten days from Friday 21 July through to Sunday 30 July 2023. Attracting over 100,000 thousand visitors in 2022, Edinburgh Food Festival thinks global but buys local, with seasonal and sustainably sourced local produce used across the festival. The free-to-enter event delivers a full menu of activity, with food and drink to enjoy on the day from the Global Kitchen, produce to take home from the expanded Producers Market, and a programme of interesting and informative live events in the Treehouse Kitchen.  

Edinburgh Food Festival, photo by Tom Duffin 

Global Kitchen 

Scotland’s vibrant street food scene will be showcased in the festival’s Global Kitchen, a selection of the very best food and drink traders from around the country. Visitors will be able to sample dishes from three British Street Food Award 2023 finalists: Okanda, the new venture from the award-winning team behind Kochchi bring their mouth-watering spicy chicken wings in mixed berry sambal glazed with coconut sugar to the table; The Falafel Stop will offer up the tastiest Lebanese falafel made to an authentic family recipe; and newcomer The Funnel Cake Co. bring the popular North American desert to the Edinburgh, with options including churro funnel cake dusted with cinnamon sugar and homemade chocolate sauce, with vegan options available too. 

The Funnel Cake Co.

There are more vegan delights on the menu with plant-based feel-good food from The Caravan of Courage, and gluten-free options will be available across the festival. Fried chicken lovers are in for a treat from Chix, offering gourmet halal chicken fillet tenders with their range of mouthwatering homemade sauces – get saucy with a lemon, confit garlic and black pepper mayo, or spice things up with jalapeno, lime and green pepper. Chix is the new venture from Chef Ed Cresswell, previously chef de partie at Heston Blumenthal's Michelin starred The Fat Duck. 

2020 British Street Food Winners The Peruvian return with their famous Lomo Saltado, stir fried steak strips, red onion, spring onions, tomatoes, and coriander; Prime Street Food turn to Vietnam with the Vietnamese/French fusion dish bánh mì, delicious fresh French baguettes with a range of savoury fillings, including slow cooked pork belly topped with spicy pickled vegetables; and Wholly Waffles bring their artisan Dutch caramel waffles, Stroopwafel to the festival for the first time. 

Patatas bravas, Moskito Spanish Bites.

Edinburgh Food Festival crowd-pleasing mainstays will return for July and August, with authentic patatas bravas from Moskito Spanish Bites; healthy poke bowls from and vegan options from Mana Poké; middle eastern delicacies from Chick + Pea and Kebbabar; and overstuffed Louisiana po’boy sandwiches and buffalo burgers from three-time Scottish Street Food Award Winners The Buffalo Truck. Plus, multi-award winning piemakers Jarvis Pickle return with their gourmet handcrafted pies, and East Lothian’s Alanda’s Seafood Grill and Gelato bring traditional fish and chips, seafood, and their award-winning Italian gelato to enjoy in the summer sun. 

Keeping visitors refreshed will be Bellfield Brewery, with their range of gluten free and vegan beers; original Spanish sangria and Agua de Valencia from the Bacchus Sangria Bar; and refreshing gin cocktails from Isle of Mull based Stranger’s Point Gin, delicious small batch spirits using coastal botanicals such as sea holly and lavender. Panther M*lk, the ‘world’s first’ purveyors of oat milk cocktails make their festival debut, serving their full range of fruity vegan cocktails, sustainably made with Minor Figures oat milk. 

Producers Market

Alongside the the Global Kitchen, Edinburgh Food Festival will also host a daily Producers Market, with a changing line-up of interesting and artisan produce. Visitors will be able to take home their own piece of Scotland’s larder with a wide range of fresh produce, baked goods, fine cheeses, specialty drinks and more from Scotland’s most innovative artisan producers.   

Treehouse Kitchen

Complementing the food and drink, visitors will be able to enjoy a daily programme of live events in the festival’s Treehouse Kitchen, with workshops, talks, masterclasses, producer-led tastings and pairings, and children’s activities. The full programme is still to be announced, but this year’s events will explore themes around Ethical Eating, Seasonality, Mood Impacting Foods, Plant Based Living, Technological Trends, and the Zero Waste Kitchen. In keeping with these themes and the festival’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, the Edinburgh Food Festival will pilot a reusable cup scheme with Stack-Cup UK for the ten-day event.  

Edinburgh Food Festival, photo by Tom Duffin 

Assembly Festival’s Edinburgh Food Festival places quality Scottish produce firmly in the centre of the table for a ten-day celebration of taste. This accessible event invites audiences on a culinary journey, exploring Scotland’s larder and its cross-continent flavours from some of the country’s most exciting street food vendors, all set within one of the most picturesque festival sites in Scotland.   

Edinburgh Food Festival 2023 will run Friday 21 July through to Sunday 30 July at Assembly George Square Gardens. For more information and to sign up to receive updates follow @edfoodfest and sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of the page. 

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