This belated May bank holiday weekend, Sheffield’s Peace Gardens filled with the smell of foods from around the world. From Indian street food, Napoli pizza, and Thai noodles, to Gyros, Baklava and Kebabs, this year’s festival gave locals and tourists a range of exciting foods to choose from. The festival also hosted a range of sweet treats, with The Yorkshire Crepe van proving most popular.
There were at least three coffee bars, which didn’t seem to take too much business away from the Café Nero and Costa that sit on the boundaries of the Peace Gardens – at least not judging by the hoards of people sat with branded take-out cups. Interestingly, the surrounding restaurants weren’t at all as busy as would be expected on a bank holiday, with most punters obviously aiming to soak up the sun with freshly made food from one of the vendors.
Over 90% of the festival’s vendors were Sheffield based, as explained on the food festivals website. Split into three sections – “Eats, Beats and Treats” – the festival also played host to stalls promoting the sale of fruit and veg, charities such as The Woodlands Trust, and independent businesses selling craft beer, gins, preserves and oils.
The stage area, sandwiched between two very busy bars run by Bradford Brewery and Bosuns Brewery, welcomed a host of performers across the three days, most of which sang covers of (once) popular songs. We heard everything from Hymns to Adele; at least this meant there was something everyone would like!
Anna, a student from The University of Sheffield who attended the festival on its second day, said that: “the festival was good, very busy, but maybe a little bit overpriced. The queues were long, and the food took a while, but I expected that. The only other thing is that they needed more seating”. The food, as good as it looked, was a little bit overpriced for the student’s budget. A pizza, 11 inches, was between £9 and £13; the Indian Street Food vendor served two samosas topped with chickpea curry for £10; a pint of beer was anywhere between £4 and £10, and cocktails were £7.50 each. There were a few tables situated around the Peace Gardens, but not enough to seat the hundreds of people who turned out. The grassed area acted as additional seating, and a series of hammocks entertained the kids who were out this bank holiday with their parents. If the weather were to turn, however, a lack of sheltered seating may have deterred people, as the only 5 covered tables were in the bus stop at the top of the gardens.
The Jubilee was not forgotten, and although the food was not entirely traditional and British (there was no fish and chips or afternoon teas), the large screen at the entrance showed the progression of the celebrations in London throughout the weekend. And for those really wanting to get into a platinum mood, a Pimms bar located down next to the stage sold paper cups of fruity Pimms for £5.
The festival didn’t seem to attract any one group so there were people from all walks of life exploring the gardens and seeing what treats were on offer. The demographic was, however, not necessarily students – perhaps this was due to the monthly Peddlers Market at Kelham Island that is more suited to the tastes of students. The grassed areas around the water features seemed to be most attractive to families with young children who, quite innovatively, on the hotter days took advantage of the water and used it as an outdoor pool. The festival also attracted many pigeons acting as litter pickers; they probably enjoyed it more than the average person, eating enough scraps to last them the year.
Making it onto the ‘top 15 things to do in Sheffield on the bank holiday weekend’, the food festival definitely had a lot to offer. Though for a student budget a full day of food and drink at the festival may not have been on the cards, it was definitely worth checking out if you love eating authentic foods made fresh by Sheffield based independent businesses!
Image Credits: Photographs taken by Eva Pears