DUNOON is preparing to welcome its first-ever food and drink festival this weekend, with more than 50 traders, live cookery demonstrations and a packed programme of entertainment set to showcase the best of Argyll’s food and drink scene.
Taste Dunoon will take place on Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26, with Castle Gardens, the Queen’s Hall and a number of venues across the town hosting a wide variety of events.
The festival will be officially opened by Scotland’s National Chef Gary Maclean, the former MasterChef: The Professionals winner, who will host live cookery demonstrations featuring audience participation, tastings and plenty of humour.
Gary said: “These events are always really good, getting people together to share food and ideas. This is the first food festival for Dunoon and I think it is a great feat achieving it. I think it is really important that things like this get done.”
He added: “What I’m going to do this weekend is have some fun with food. There’s lots of local food I’m going to use, like venison and trout.”
Gary is also familiar with rhubarb and explained that he created a really complicated rhubarb crumble for a competition way back.
He said: “I’ve made it less complicated in one of my books and, like all Scottish children, I used to get a stick of rhubarb and a bag of sugar and told to go out and play. I think we all really wanted to get the sugar more than the rhubarb, but it did give such a contrast in taste between the sweet sugar and the sharpness of the rhubarb.”
Visitors at the festival can expect more than 50 stalls and street food vendors offering everything from artisan cheeses and handcrafted chocolates to cakes, cocktails, locally produced spirits and fresh produce.
This year’s programme also incorporates the second annual Rhubarb Festival at the POP Shop on Hillfoot Street, with local businesses putting their own twist on the versatile ingredient.
Among the more unusual creations will be Anselmo’s deep-fried rhubarb, while GoYo Frozen Yoghurt will be serving a rhubarb crumble topping.
Festival organiser Ciorsdan Fagan, of Dunoon Presents, said excitement was building ahead of the inaugural event.
“We’re almost there and can’t wait to get the festival underway,” she said.
“There’s just so many creative local businesses taking part that visitors will be spoilt for choice with what’s on offer.”
A new Taste Dunoon Food and Drink Trail, funded by Argyll and Bute Council, will also be launched during the festival, highlighting more than 40 food and drink businesses across the town, including cafés, restaurants and specialist retailers.
In addition to the food and drink, visitors can enjoy an art exhibition organised by Cowal Art Network in the pier pavilion, alongside live music, workshops and family entertainment throughout the weekend.
Local Highland dancers will perform in Castle Gardens at midday on Saturday, while an evening ceilidh will take place at the Argyll Hotel between 5pm and 7pm.
Tickets for the ceilidh, priced at 15 plus booking fee, remain available.
Ciorsdan added: “Taste Dunoon really will be a true celebration of the variety of food and drink available in our spectacular corner of Argyll and, we hope, the first of many.”
Taste Dunoon is organised by Dunoon Presents, the town’s Business Improvement District (BID), which stages a programme of events throughout the year.
For more information, visit www.dunoonpresents.co.uk.
