Food & Drink

Manchester Food and Drink Festival announces dates for its 2021 return

MFDF 2021 promises "a magnificent celebration of the region’s food and drink and all the talented people that bring it to the table".

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 5th March 2021
Manchester Food & Drink Festival

Manchester Food and Drink Festival is back for 2021.

Following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unveiling of the government’s “irreversible” roadmap to lift England’s current national lockdown and reopen society over the next few months – with an aim to end all social restrictions by 21st June, at the earliest – the city’s flagship food and drink festival and undoubtedly one of the highlights in the annual events calendar has announced its grand return this September.

Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) will take place from Thursday 16th – Monday 27th September.

This year, the festival – which will once again be headline sponsored by food delivery platform Just Eat – is open to the entire Greater Manchester hospitality industry and will be supporting the recovery of its dining and drinking economies by showcasing and celebrating as many businesses as possible.

MFDF 2021 promises “a magnificent celebration of the region’s food and drink and all the talented people that bring it to the table”.

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Fans of MFDF will be pleased to know that the ‘Festival Hub’ is returning for 2021.

Taking place in Cathedral Gardens, he Festival Hub will, as always, be free to enter, but this year, there will be a limited number of bookable tables available, meaning for a reservation fee of £5, guests can guarantee a table and skip the queues.  

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Advanced table bookings are now live and can be made here.

The team behind MFDF are also thrilled to announce that the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards are back “in the flesh” for 2021 too, and will taking place at a brand new venue.

The MFDF Gala Dinner and Awards will take place on Monday 27th September at Manchester Hall.

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After a year out of action, the event this year promises to be the “hospitality homecoming” event of the year, as MFDF brings the industry together to celebrate and recognise the achievements and challenges of this extraordinary time.

The 2021 award categories will be announced soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Manchester Food & Drink Festival
Manchester Food & Drink Festival

Speaking on the festival’s return this year, Alexa Stratton-Powell – Festival Director at Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) – said: “This year’s festival is about celebration, reflection and recovery [as] it has been an extraordinarily difficult time for the hospitality industry, and so too for the festival and all the events companies and professionals around the country.

“Postponing last year’s MFDF was a very difficult decision, but the right one.

“This year we’ll come together to do what Manchester does best – support each other and our city. We want to create the most exciting festival yet, celebrate as many of our hospitality businesses as possible and make sure everyone has a brilliant time enjoying the region’s amazing food and drink.

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“We’re particularly excited to be announcing the MFDF Gala Dinner and Awards are back [as] they give everyone a chance to recognise the achievements of our unrivalled hospitality community [and] we will be back soon to announce the award categories, nominees and how to vote.

“[This will] give everyone the chance to get behind their food heroes.”

Andrew Kenny – Managing Director of Just Eat UK – added: “We’re delighted that the plans for MFDF have been finalised and we can share the good news. We are really looking forward to celebrating with our customers, our local restaurant partners and the whole of Manchester at MFDF this September.”

Manchester Food & Drink Festival

As it stands, Manchester Food and Drink Festival (MFDF) will  be delivered in line with current event guidance, and the festival team will be monitoring the situation closely as they continue to plan the event.

The new ‘MFDF Planner’ is ready to download for 2021 too.

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Bringing the “festival to your fingertips like never before”, app users will be able to browse the full festival programme, reserve tables at the Festival Hub and vote in the MFDF awards too, so head to the Apple and Android app stores to download by searching ‘MCR Food and Drink Festival’.

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You can find more information ahead of the event via the MFDF 2021 website here.

Food & Drink

The cosy Peak District pub serving a pick’n’mix sausage and mash menu

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson The cosy Peak District pub serving a pick'n'mix sausage and mash menu

There’s a Peak District pub that’s turned one of Britain’s most beloved comfort foods into a full-on pick’n’mix.

Tucked away in the postcard-perfect village of Castleton, Ye Olde Nags Head is serving up a fully customisable menu of sausage and mash dishes.

We’re talking near-endless combinations of proper pub grub.

You start by choosing your sausages from a daily rotating selection (not a sentence you hear every day, but we’re into it).

Expect classics like Cumberland alongside more adventurous options like venison and mustard, or even wild boar and orange, plus a veggie sausage daily.

Then it’s onto the mash – you can go for flavours like cheese and onion, wholegrain mustard, or even black pudding mash.

Classic cumberland, mustard mash, and mushroom sauce
Classic cumberland, mustard mash, and mushroom sauce
Veggie sausage with cheese and onion mash and classic gravy
Veggie sausage with cheese and onion mash and classic gravy
Tucking in
Tucking in

To finish? A choice of rich, hearty gravies and sauces to bring it all together, whether that’s a classic onion gravy, a peppercorn sauce, or a creamy wild mushroom sauce.

And if that wasn’t enough, you can even upgrade your bangers and mash pick’n’mix by having it all served inside a giant Yorkshire pudding.

Ye Olde Nags Head is a historic 17th-century pub, with a roaring fire in every room and cosy bedrooms upstairs.

Inside Ye Olde Nags Head pub in the Peak District
Inside Ye Olde Nags Head pub in the Peak District
Ye Olde Nags Head pub is near Mam Tor
Ye Olde Nags Head pub is near Mam Tor

It’s one of those flagstone-floored, beamed-ceilinged, mismatched-furniture type pubs that welcomes everyone in every state, whether you’re caked in mud from a hike or popping in on a coach tour.

Another of the pub’s specialties is the Derbyshire Breakfast, a hearty plate of sausage, smoked bacon, black pudding, free range egg, grilled tomatoes, field mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread.

The pub also offers takeaway breakfast butties, so you can use it for both a pre-hike stop and a post-hike pint.

Given it’s just minutes from the ever-popular Mam Tor hike, this is one pub you’ll definitely want to add to your next Peak District day out itinerary.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

Food & Drink

The hillside farm in the Peak District making its own ice cream

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Hope Valley Ice Cream in the Peak District

Did you know there’s a 300-year-old farm in the Peak District serving up some of the freshest ice cream you’ll ever taste? And yes, you can meet the cows that made it while you’re there.

Welcome to Hope Valley Ice Cream, a family-run gem where things are kept refreshingly simple: happy cows, proper farming, and seriously good ice cream.

Set in the heart of the Peak District countryside, this place is about as wholesome as it gets.

The ice cream is made on-site in the farmhouse, literally just metres from where the dairy herd are out grazing.

You can watch the animals, wander around the farm, and then tuck into a scoop or three perched on a milk pail stool, or a picnic bench (or even a decorative tractor).

Hope Valley Ice Cream has some amazing seasonal ice creams, like lemon curd, elderflower, and blackberry, alongside all the classics and a rather delicious tiramisu.

You can grab a cone, sit down with a coffee (again, made with milk from the nearby cows), or go all in with a freshly-made waffle if you’re feeling fancy.

Takeaway tubs from Hope Valley Ice Cream
Takeaway tubs from Hope Valley Ice Cream
You can get a mini pail of ice cream
You can get a mini pail of ice cream
Meet the newborn calves at Hope Valley Ice Cream
Meet the newborn calves at Hope Valley Ice Cream
Tuck into your ice cream on a milk pail stool
Tuck into your ice cream on a milk pail stool
Hope Valley Ice Cream
Hope Valley Ice Cream

And if you’re the type who really loves ice cream? You can actually order a full pail of it, with four huge scoops plus whipped cream and sauce.

The farm itself is run by the Marsden family, who’ve been working this land for generations. It shows in everything – they’ve created a place that feels genuinely welcoming, not just another tourist stop.

Beyond the ice cream, you’ve got plenty of reasons to stick around. There are calves (including the newest tiny arrivals), plus donkeys and pigs to say hello to.

Whether you’re heading out on a hike or just fancy a drive into the Peaks, this is one pitstop that’s absolutely worth it – and honestly, it’s worth the trip on its own.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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