Tag: gift for foodies

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Festive Cookbooks for 2025

Rick Stein's Christmas (c) Rick Stein

Four Fabulous Christmas Cookbooks for 2025

From Rick Stein’s nostalgic seaside suppers to the Hairy Bikers’ big-hearted cheer, 2025’s new festive cookbooks offer something for everyone. From make-ahead sanity, to culinary adventure and a splash of wicked mischief, these four new releases will see you through the season well fed and well read.

Image above (c) Rick Stein

How to Survive Christmas, by Jilly Cooper

The world’s a little less jolly sans Jilly, but her irreverent charm lives on in this cheeky festive guide. Dispensing her trademark wicked wisdom, Jilly shares how we can all survive that most treacherous of seasons with style (and with the inevitably generous glugs of sherry). Less cookbook, more social satire, it’s a fizzing antidote to yuletide perfectionism. And by following her advice and keeping the spirit of Jilly alive, what a way to toast a wonderful woman whom the world sadly lost this October. 

How to Survive Christmas, by Jilly Cooper

Rick Stein’s Christmas, by Rick Stein

Rick opens the door to a Christmas full of warmth, comfort, and quietly impressive food. Across 100 recipes, from classic goose to the bright, far-flung flavours of his travels, Rick balances nostalgia with a spirit of adventure. Always elegant, never fussy, his is exactly the sort of Christmas we’d all like to be invited to. If you’re looking for a book gift for a foodie who knows how to live and wants their Christmas feasting to reflect that, this is just the ticket. 

Rick Stein’s Christmas, by Rick Stein

Christmas feast (c) Mel Poole

The Hairy Bikers’ 12 Days of Christmas, by Si King and Dave Myer

Ever-jovial Si (with the memory of dearly departed Dave never far from his or our minds) serves up The Hairy Bikers’ trademark mix of humour and hearty fare here in a new festive cookbook for 2025. Feel the warmth of foolproof classics, and look out for the clever twists and unmistakable charm that made the pair such national treasures. We particularly like the perfect cheeseboard (just saying). If you need to rush out for any last-minute ingredients, our own Farm Shop Guide might help you find the best local farmers and butchers to truly do these recipes justice. A fab gift for foodies this Christmas. 

The Hairy Bikers’ 12 Days of Christmas, by Si King and Dave Myer

The Batch Lady Saves Christmas, by Suzanne Mulholland

If December sends you spinning, Suzanne Mulholland’s calm and practical approach to ‘batching’ (that’s batch cooking to you and I)is a gift in itself to making Christmas feel achievable. With over 100 make-ahead recipes, some that also magically freeze, you’ll love this book’s savvy advice on budgets, leftovers, and stress-free entertaining. There’s even a chapter on air-fryer dishes and one-pot wonders for those who really are short on time, space, and energy but still want to get a delicious job done. The perfect gift for the busy foodie in your life.

The Batch Lady Saves Christmas, by Suzanne Mulholland   

Festive book gifts for foodies this Christmas

Whichever book finds its way into your kitchen (or your loved ones’ stockings), may it bring a little calm to the chaos and a lot of cheer to the table this year. Because, at the end of the day, that’s what Christmas meals are really about: good food, good company… and perhaps a little glass of something sparkling to keep the Christmassy cogs turning. 

For other book inspiration for the food lovers in your life this Christmas, visit our own online bookshop. Our titles include The Extra Mile Guide (Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services); The Coastal Café Guide; and The Farm Shop Guide. Happy shopping, cooking, and book-buying!

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BEST FOOD FESTIVALS FOR 2025

(c) eat:Festivals. People browsing local food stall at an eat:festival

THE BEST FOOD FESTIVALS FOR 2025

This blog brings together some of our favourite national and regional food festivals, so that you don’t miss a culinary trick in 2025 when looking for something to do with your foodie friends. Thank you to the organisers of the South West’s multi-award-winning food and drink festival series, eat:Festivals, for the use of their evocative, appetite-whetting imagery, above. 

Our guidebooks (The Extra Mile: Delicious Alternatives to Motorway Services; The Farm Shop Guide; and The Coastal Café Guide) have one thing in common with these festivals. Our books encourage people to eat local, buy local, avoid boring big-brand food and the monotony of motorway eats, and instead to support smaller, independent producers. You’ll find many of these festivals featured in our newest book (already a #1 Amazon bestseller), The Farm Shop Guide. 

Have we missed any festivals? Let us know, we’ll slip them in.

Browse our foodie travel guides

FOOD FESTIVALS IN/ FROM APRIL 2025

eat:Festivals…Year-round events in 2025 (from 5 April until 13 Dec) 

eat:Festivals need a whole website of their own, there is so much going on. With local, regional events plus festive and themed markets (think vegan, Christmas, gate-to-plate), their impressive series of day-long markets begin with eat:Bideford on Sat 5 April 2025. They then continue (through Minehead, Weston-super-Mare, Castle Cary, Nailsea, Exmouth, Tavistock, Taunton, Bedminster, Burnham, Portishead, Axminster, Yeovil, Chipping Sodbury Shaftesbury, Honiton, Totnes, Wellington, Tiverton, and Clevedon) until Sat 13 December 2025, drawing a year of South West food festivals to a close with eat:Dawlish. Come along for everything from cider, organic veggies and smoked fish to chocolate, gelato and local spirits. Street performers and sustainability are high on the list of must-haves for every eat:Festival. 

Book or attend your next eat:Festival here.

FOOD FESTIVALS IN MAY 2025

Porthleven Food Festival, Cornwall, 2-4 May 2025

Designed as a toast to Cornish food (while raising awareness of the key issues relating to food and the environment), this event takes over the whole town in a weekend of pasties, chef demos, Bloody Marys, ska bands, and comedy skits. It’s a riot.

Visit the Porthleven Food Festival in Cornwall.

Ludlow Food Festival, Shropshire, 9-11 May 2025

The spring chapter of this famed foodie event (set against the Marches’ iconic castle) has bands, beer, music, and motors. Although more beer-focused than the autumn edition, you’ll find a wealth of artisan food producers ready to show off the region’s best street food. A fab food festival in Shropshire. 

Follow Ludlow’s Spring Food Festival, Shropshire

Follow Ludlow’s main Food Festival (12-14 Sep 2025)

North Leeds Food Festival, West Yorkshire, May 10-11 2025

A popular menu of tribute bands, street entertainers, artisan traders, indy bars, and delicious street food make this a popular addition to any self-respecting foodie’s calendar. Kids love the fun fair and inflatables, leaving grown-ups free to enjoy innovative chef demos and samples of local tipples.

Visit the North Leeds Food Festival site 

Blenheim Palace Food Festival, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 24-26 May 2025

In this rather dramatic setting, discover new flavours and be inspired by passionate chefs, food makers and bakers, and esteemed culinary guests. For street food, live music, curated food stalls, kitchen and homeware gifts, Blenheim is the place to be. If you happen to have an Annual or  Palace and Play Pass, it’s also completely free (else find tickets online).  

Head to the Blenheim Palace Food Festival in 2025. 

FOOD FESTIVAL IN JUNE 2025

Taste of London, Regent’s Park, 12-16 June 2025

This five-day ‘food-fuelled garden party’, as the organisers call it, happens in the heart of the capital’s vast Regent’s Park. It features an impressive number of London’s hottest chefs and restaurants, and introduces movers and shakers new to the food scene. Cocktails, desserts, cook schools, and street food await.

Visit Taste of London for festival map, tickets, and info.

Shrewsbury Food Festival 28-29 June 2025

On the last weekend of June, Shrewsbury Food Festival transforms the town’s park with 200 independent food and drink stalls, street food trucks, and bars. Top chefs offer free talks and demonstrations, while a Chef School inspires budding cooks. A dedicated kids’ zone features free activities like circus skills, have-a-go activities, and inflatables. Enjoy live performances on the Music Stage and Family Entertainment Stage or learn about food and sustainability in the Field to Fork area. Winner of ‘Festival of the Year’ at West Midlands Tourism Awards 2024, it’s more than just a food festival.

Visit Shrewsbury Food Festival.  

FOOD FESTIVALS IN JULY 2025

Great Yorkshire Show, North Yorkshire, July 8-11 2025

A 140,000-strong crowd descends on Harrogate each summer to celebrate British food, countryside, and farming at the Great Yorkshire Show. Staged since 1837, this is one of the UK’s oldest, largest agricultural shows. Marvel at the prize animals in the judging ring, sample fine Yorkshire produce, and enjoy the live music.

For FAQ and tickets, visit the Great Yorkshire Show online. 

National Geographic Traveller Food Festival, Business Design Centre, London, 19-20 July 2025, 

With a food hall, wine and spirits theatre, workshops, master food photography sessions and more, Nat Geo’s fabulous food fest gives you the chance to ‘taste the world’ in the heart of London. Head to the main stage to see decorated chefs, TV personalities, and cookbook writers, and be inspired by their words, wit, and culinary wisdom.

Global gourmets: get your 2025 tickets to the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival here.  

Rock Oyster, Dinham House, North Cornwall, 24-27 July 2025

Alongside an artisanal food extravaganza, Rock Oyster has a stellar lineup of musical treats in 2025, from the Ministry of Sound Classical to Rag’n’Bone Man, UB40 and more. Sea, sand, surf, foodie workshops and sessions, salivating over delicious gourmet goods: Rock Oyster 2025 has it all.

Check out the Rock Oyster 2025 schedule and tickets here. 

Feast On, Bristol, 24-27 July 2025

Hosted on Bristol’s iconic Durdham Downs parkland, Feast On offers signature dishes from the city’s top chefs as well as a produce market, open fire cooking demos, live music, and tasting opportunities. Bristol is also home to most of this publisher’s staff (it’s where Printslinger is based) so this Bristol Food Festival is of course a huge favourite. See you there! 

Get stuck in to Feast On Bristol in 2025

FOOD FESTIVALS IN AUGUST 2025

PieFest, Melton Mowbray, 3-4 August 2025

Does this food festival speak for itself? To eat all the pies – or to see who makes some of the country’s very finest examples thereof – come to pie-central, Melton Mowbray, in early August. Check the suspension on your car before setting off, boot laden with golden-pastry’d goodness…

Visit PieFest in August 2025.

Glasgow Foodies Festival, 8-10 August 2025

Glasgow’s is one in a cracking series of 14 ‘Foodie’ festivals taking place right across the UK, each celebrating the food of its region. Expect fire-pit cooking, an artisan market, street food, award-winning chefs, and great music. If you’re looking for a food festival in Scotland, look no further. 

Visit Glasgow Foodies Festival online for more. 

The Big Feastival, the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, 22-24 August 2025

Cross a music festival with a food fest and you have: the Feastival. Hosted at a farm in the Cotswolds, it’s a weekend extravaganza of music, dancing, top-class chefs, finger-licking street food, and family fun.

Get your tickets to Oxfordshire’s Big Feastival here. 

FOOD FESTIVALS IN SEPTEMBER 2025

Narberth Food Festival, Pembrokeshire 2025 (date TBC)

West Wales has a burgeoning food scene, and the pretty market town of Narberth celebrates the best of it. Entry is free and the 50-plus stalls are full of creative flavours: perhaps local ferments, whisky, preserved fish, or vegan meals. There’s also a rich menu of music and activities for children. Check online before making any plans, we’re just waiting with everything crossed for the 2025 dates. 

Visit Narberth Food Festival in 2025

Abergavenny Food Festival, 20-21 September 2025

The picturesque market town of Abergavenny is the perfect backdrop for one of Britain’s finest food festivals. From inspiring food education to parties in the Dome, meet-the-author events, and every street food and gourmet treat you can imagine, Abergavenny Food Festival really is a treat for all the senses. Full of food? Walk it off with a stroll around the nearby castle or canal. 

Visit one of Wales’s best food festivals: Abergavenny 2025. 

Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival, Suffolk, 27-28 September 2025

2025 is the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival’s 20th anniversary: what a year to experience this brilliant event for the first time. it features cooking classes for kids, tractor rides, and over 100 local food and drink producers from across Suffolk. As a not-for-profit outfit, its raison d’être is to reconnect people with the food provided by the nearby landscape, and to champion emerging and established producers. (Exactly what Printslinger guidebooks like to do, too.)

Get your tickets to Aldeburgh’s food festival 2025 here.  

FOOD FESTIVALS IN OCTOBER 2025

East Midlands Food Festival, Melton Mowbray, 5-6 October 2025

Rural foodie capital, Melton Mowbray, celebrates its fêted pork pies alongside plentiful artisanal treats every autumn, at this covered food festival. Stalls spill over with farm-fresh produce, while the area’s multicultural flavours wait to be sampled: the Iranian offering is strong. For Pie Fest, you’ll need to be here in August.

Plan your trip to the East Midlands Food Festival 2025 here. 

LOVE FOOD? DISCOVER OUR FOODIE TRAVEL GUIDES

If you love local food, and supporting smaller, independent and often family-run food and drinks businesses (and farmers and farm shops), have a look at our three guidebooks on the button below. They’d each make a great gift for your foodie friend, or treat yourself to the trio. Banish forgettable food, and eat better (while buying local) with The Extra Mile, The Coastal Café Guide, or The Farm Shop Guide.   

Browse our food and travel guides
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