Date: 21-22 July 2018
Time: 10am to 5pm (last admission 4pm)
Cost: £6 adult / £2 child (5-15 years / under 5’s free) / £14 family (2 adults and up to 4 children)
Flypast: 2.21pm on Saturday 21 July (weather permitting)

With just days to go until the annual Cosford Food Festival and with the warm weather showing no signs of fading, organisers are gearing up for their biggest and best event yet! This year’s festival is packed with over 90 local food and drink producers, a busy line-up on the cooking demo stage and live performances from the Cosford and Shawbury Military Wives Choir. Plus, there will be plenty of hand-on foodie fun and entertainment for families and a Spitfire flypast on Saturday as the cherry on top!

Taking place on 21 and 22 July, the festival is being held in the unique setting at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, with the VC10 and Hercules aircraft acting as a backdrop to the bustling food market. There will be plenty of delicious food for visitors to buy and enjoy at the festival, with some of the best street food vendors in town cooking up flavours from around the world. The diverse menu on offer will include everything from African, Indian, Italian, Greek and Japanese cuisine to a taste of the ocean with softshell crab to tempt visitors. Plus, gourmet burgers, stonebaked pizzas and gourmet vegan street food means there really is something for all festival goers to enjoy.

As well as a wide choice of locally brewed beverages to accompany the great food on offer, why not wash your lunch down with a glass of fizz from the Champavan, a little tipple from the Gin Spot, or perhaps a funky summers cocktail courtesy of the Beetle Juice bar! Freshly ground coffee and refreshing cold drinks will be available from converted vintage vehicles and for those who can’t resist something sweet, traditional dairy ice creams, crêpes and huge selection of desserts to go including brownie and pancake skewers, will all be on offer to tempt foodies.

A guaranteed highlight on Saturday afternoon will be the unmistakable sound of a Second World War aircraft, as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire flies overhead during a spectacular flypast (scheduled for 2.21pm weather permitting).

With a jam packed programme of demonstrations over the festival weekend, visitors can learn from the experts on how to prepare, cook and present a range of exciting dishes. Festival organisers have signed up some exciting new chefs for this year’s festival including celebrity chef Cyrus Todiwala OBE as well as Stu Harmer – Ex-Flight Sergent, RAF Chef. Both are contributors to The RAF100 Cookbook, created by RAF personnel spanning 100 years, 100 countries and 100 recipes, celebrating the centenary of the RAF. Visitors can also sample dishes and purchase signed copies of the book from the RAF Tips and Tasters stage. Plus, local speciality chefs will be showcasing their passion for great food, ensuring the demo stage has an entertaining and varied line up.

Visitors can sit back and relax with a summer’s drink in hand, whilst dining alfresco and enjoying some of the weekend’s entertainment. Kick starting the weekend’s live music is festival favorite and acoustic musician Anthony Doyle, who will be encouraging visitors to sing along and even have a go with the musical instruments. Bringing a touch of vintage sounds to the festival will be the fabulous The Bluebird Belles, a 1940s vintage trio who specialise in retro sounds. After proving popular last year, The Dirty Rockin Scoundrels are back…bringing you the best Rock ‘n’ Roll music of the 50’s and 60’s – that’s guaranteed to get you moving and grooving!

RAF Museum Public Events Manager, Abi Betteridge said:
“The glorious summer we’ve been experiencing recently is certainly getting people in the mood for a great family day out like the Cosford Food Festival, advance ticket sales are up on previous years which is really encouraging.

2018 is an exciting year for us as the RAF celebrates its centenary and we’ve incorporated this theme into the festival in several ways. We’re delighted to have an RAF Chef on the demo stage as well as personnel showcasing The RAF100 Cookbook on the Tips and Taster stage both days. The RAF recruitment team will also be with us, along with the Cosford and Shawbury Military Wives Choir who will be kickstarting the live music, and not forgetting the Spitfire flypast on Saturday!

This is one of our biggest events and we are confident there will be something for everyone to enjoy.”

Ensuring there is plenty to do for the little foodies, Kid’s Corner is an entire area packed with entertainment for youngsters. Kiddy Cook will be running five cookery workshops each day where children will get hands-on decorating cupcakes and biscuits in the shapes of RAF roundels and planes! Spaces are limited to 20 children per session and cost £3 per person, so if you have any future chefs in the family, book now to guarantee your place by visiting www.rafmuseum.org/cosford.

Also in Kid’s Corner, children can try their hands at circus skills, create painting using colourful plastic bottle tops, have fun on the RAF STEM bus and of course, no festival would be complete without some face painting and festival glitter! But if all that’s not enough, why not have a go at the craft activity peg planes, enjoy playing with the giant outdoor games or get into the festival spirit with an airbrush tattoo. Artist Spencer Trickett will also be in the Kid’s Corner all weekend signing copies of his RAF inspired books.

Actor John Challis, who is best known for playing the character Boycie in the popular BBC sitcom ‘Only Fools and Horses’ will be at festival bringing along a range of his books for people to have signed. Organisers are thrilled to have this local legend at the festival for a second year after proving popular with foodies at last year’s event.

The Cosford Food Festival will run from 10am to 5pm on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 July and admission is just £6 per adult, with family rates available. Tickets to the festival are now available to purchase in advance via the RAF Museum website www.rafmuseum.org/cosford where you will also find a full list of exhibitors. Festival goers will also be able to enjoy exploring the aircraft and exhibits on display at the RAF Museum Cosford – with their wristband on, they can pop in and out of the festival to the Museum throughout the day.

In addition to the parking at the Museum, there will be a FREE shuttle bus operating from the large car park at Cosford train station over the festival weekend. There will be two busses running continuously throughout the day and they will drop visitor’s right at the entrance to the festival! Disabled parking is available at the Museum. Keep up to date with the latest festival info by following the event on Facebook/CosfordFoodFestival.

Tags: 2018, July, News, RAF Museum Cosford