The Good Food Cardiff Autumn Festival is back this September for its third year and will run from Saturday, September 10 to Tuesday, October 18. The festival, which began virtually and socially-distanced in 2020, will see dozens of events being held across the Welsh capital to showcase community spirit through food and support city-wide partnership, Food Cardiff’s, Good Food Strategy.
The organisation describes itself as "a hub for connecting the people and projects working to promote healthy, environmentally sustainable and ethical food across the city; it acts as a voice for wider change". Its strategy has five food goals for the city which include a healthy Cardiff; an environmentally sustainable Cardiff; a thriving local economy; a fair and connected food system; and an empowering food movement.
This festival looks to encompass that and will see community groups, schools - who have been provided grants by Food Cardiff and C3SC - Cardiff Third Sector Council - for this occasion - gardens and businesses run a wide range of events that celebrate and encourage the cooking, sharing and growing of food. Many of the events that span the five weeks also have a strong focus on communities coming together amid the cost of living crisis.
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With its first day being Saturday, September 10, the festival will launch at St Fagans National Museum of History's two-day Amgueddfa Cymru Food Festival. There will be workshops, sessions focusing on access to healthy and nutritious food, and demonstrations including cooking demos from former Great British Bake Off star, author, presenter and registered dietitian, Beca Lyne-Pirkis. These will be held in the Good Food Cardiff Zone. Read more on the Amgueddfa Cymru Food Festival here.
Another event - one of many happening across the five weeks - which is taking place on Sunday, September 25, is to be hosted by Splott-based food co-op, Splo-Down and is named the 'Solidarity Feast'.
Splo-down is a community group which provides vegetable boxes and other food and drink at a low cost and helps people on low incomes, refugees, asylum seekers among others in the communities of Splott, Tremorfa and Adamsdown. For those struggling financially, they offer "Solidarity veg boxes: based on our ethic of solidarity, rather than charity we offer a number of free veg boxes for anyone struggling to afford food."
This feast will be a communal meal held in Splott Park. The food produced will be cooked using Splo-down food boxes and recipes that have been provided.
Also in Splott, homeless prevention charity for young people and women, Llamau , will be running an evening that focuses on healthy eating and cooking - their theme is 'Healthy Fakeaways from around the world'.
Support workers of Llamau and the young people at the charity will research recipes for a chosen cuisine from around the world before shopping locally and cooking - and sharing - a meal they've made. This will take place every Thursday evening during the festival. This event will help develop and support key life skills young people need to gain independence and build community networks.
Alongside these, there will be evenings, events and feasts held by Riverside Market, Roath Market, Cardiff Salad Garden, Global Gardens Project, The Love Yourself Community Group and so many more.
To find out which events are being run by who and when, visit the Good Food Cardiff Autumn Festival 2022's festival programme here.
The festival's organiser and Food Cardiff coordinator, Pearl Costello, said: “The autumn festival is an opportunity for communities, schools and local businesses to come together over good food. It’s a chance to look at how we become a healthier, more sustainable city, and also for communities to tackle some of the big issues we face more immediately.
“Previous festivals have targeted issues such as food insecurity, loneliness and social isolation in the wake of the pandemic. These issues are still there, and are now being exacerbated by the cost of living crisis. It’s vital that everyone involved in the food system in the city has opportunities to reach people and communities in need and have help to access affordable, nutritious food.
“The festival is a celebration of the growing good food movement in the city and, more importantly, a chance for anyone to learn more about what they eat and build their skills in cooking and growing food."
The festival will run from Saturday, September 10 until Tuesday, October 18. It's important to note that some events are by 'invite only' for current members of those groups, although many are open to all.
The full programme is on the Food Cardiff website.
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