Devizes Food & Drink Festival, Back with a Dollop!

Though risky, weatherwise, September seems to be the month The Devizes Food & Drink Festival has settled on, returning again this year on this pleasant Saturday with their grand opening of the food market, and gifting the bustling Devizes Market Place with the beautiful aroma of street food; who am I to resist a stroll through, and maybe a brownie or two?

Though the Gourmet Brownie Kitchen has its own shop now in town, still they put their regular stall up, and I felt the urge for their delicious stodgy bites, though I didn’t see any competition for them there, as there has been in the past. That said, a lot of the stalls seemed to be reappearing from previous years, but if you’ve a winning formula why change it?

The circuit had changed slightly, with stalls facing the street, and folding back into the Market Place carparking area, perhaps not containing browsers so well, but encouraging more from their daily shopping. Paella to burger, it’s all there, chocolate pizza, gin and churros, you name it.

If last year I winged “Frome’s eclectic-influenced folk four-piece, The Decades made for the perfect entertainment, but again, they were the same band which played there in 2019,” they were there again this time too, and throughout my time there they were taking a break. I couldn’t help feel, though the array of food stalls were plentiful, sitting and eating is rather dull if there’s no entertainment, and a little more concentration could be taken on this, although I know and accept the focus is on food and drink, being the Food & Drink Festival and all.

Wadworth takes the beer sponsor, an arrangement previous done by Stealth Brewery, who ensured consistency in music, with a selection of local talent, and I’m certain Waddies could take from their example, and provide as they did with their own WadFest in the summer. Otherwise, it’s just, go get some lunch there and wander off.

But it’s far from the bee-all-and-end-all of the festival, with huge options for ticketed side-events, which you’d better be quick to get yourself in on, here. Me? I’m dining on a Georgian feast at SoupChick tonight so didn’t want to overdo it, a brownie I’m out of there, apologies to the organisers but I’d like a further selection of stalls I’ve not seen before, I’d like to be entertained, and I’d like to be buried under free samples, of which maybe a sign of the times, but I saw much less of this year. Still, busy though, and a joy to have in Devizes at the end of summer.