Exeter Food Festival 2014 April 25th

This morning I visited the Exeter Food Festival.  It's on from today until Sun 27 April 2014.
As ever, the food theatre was packed - standing room only, and that was at the top of a flight of stairs - Michael Caines was appearing - so I had to leave and made the most of the 'quieter' marquees.

There were plenty of familiar faces and products, plus some new items that I haven't tried before.  It was a great opportunity to see all the local produce and try some free samples.   The marquees were huge and there were a lot of exhibitors and the great weather (not wet, not too hot) meant there were a lot of visitors, but not too many.

I enjoyed my chat about Cornish pasties with Chunk of Devon.  Are Devon or Cornish ones better?  I prefer chunks of meat (not mince)....and so do Chunk!

I also chatted to Jennie from Taste Buds magazine - a great source of local foodie info (and I write for it too) and I bumped into Anna Turns, a fellow food writer.

Look at the size of these Rolo cookies from Get Cupcaked....you have to look at the penny for comparison.  My children will love these this evening.  The Get Cupcaked cupcakes looked amazing and for me the 'Best in Show'.

The Frandie Macarons looked and tasted amazing:

 A great array of pies from a North Devon company...

 I was unable to chat to the Camper Coffee guys as the queue was always like this...
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The festival programme:

I have never been to the evening do, but that should be fun.  I think there is entertainment on the Fri and Sat nights.  Parking was not a problem - there are road signs advising use of the Park and Ride - but we parked in the centre of Exeter.