Exploring our past and championing our future with the finest food and drink of the South Downs & Coast.

The South Downs Food Festival will be launched by Dame Prue Leith in September, bringing together food enthusiasts, chefs, food writers, campaigners and artisan producers for a weekend of gastronomic delight, stimulating talks, and delicious events. Scheduled for 14-15 September 2024, this inaugural festival will feature a rich array of food and drink from across the South Downs and beyond.

Surrounded by the forests and parkland of the Stansted Park estate in the South Downs National Park, the festival will indulge in the finest Sussex and Hampshire produce, gourmet dishes, and locally brewed beverages. The festival will host a “street” of over 40 artisan producers, a ‘Stansted Arm’s Pub’, cookery demo tent, live music, wood-fired catering, picnics, chef’s table and Tea on the Terrace.  The festival is a chance to explore local produce, from wild venison to hedgerow walks, pasture-fed beef to grilled corn-on-the-cob. It’s a celebratory harvest festival of local food and drink.