The dates for Dundee’s new food festival have been revealed as the council launches a special grant for prospective participants.
Plans for a street-food event to replace the former Flower and Food Festival, which was axed in January 2023, were given the green-light by councillors earlier this year.
The new event – simply named Dundee Food Festival – will take place on Saturday July 6 and Sunday July 7.
It’s described as an opportunity for residents and businesses to showcase the region’s “rich culinary heritage and promote sustainable practices in the food industry”.
Weekend of activities planned
Details of how the event could look were revealed in a report which went before councillors in January.
It described how the festival will be focused on the the city centre but fringe events will take place across the whole city.
Both indoor and outdoor activities will be held across the weekend, which will include lectures and talks, food walks and tasting trails, markets, street food, and cooking demonstrations.
The festival is expected to cost around £35,000, which will be met from a one-off budget investment.
More details, including locations, will be released in the run-up to the weekend.
A small-scale grant application process has now opened for people or organisations who may want to take part.
This allows them to bid for up to £500 to assist the delivery of activities over the festival weekend.
The deadline for applications is 12pm on April 8.
Previous event ran at a loss
The new food event will replace the once popular Dundee Flower and Food Festival, held annually at Camperdown Park.
First held in 1988, over the years it attracted big names including television personalities Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood, Gregg Wallace and the Hairy Bikers.
But the event had not been held in-person since 2019 because of the the Covid-19 pandemic and ran at a loss of more than £50,000 in its final year.
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