Clitheroe Food Festival 2023: when is it, what stalls will be there, and will the Red Arrows fly by?

A huge dollop of free family fun will be dished up at the Clitheroe Food Festival on Saturday, August 12.

The free-to-enter festival, organised by Ribble Valley Borough Council and sponsored by the Compleat Food Group, Fort Vale Engineering and Holmes Mill, is one of Lancashire’s most popular events, attracting over 18,000 visitors to the town centre.

And the icing on the cake is this year’s festival will round off a week of foodie events being held throughout Ribble Valley.

Festival organiser Ribble Valley Borough Council has decided to expand the festival, one of the most popular food festivals in the country, into the week-long Ribble Valley Taste Fest.

The fest, which starts on August 5, will feature a feast of activities and special events, including picnics, wine-tastings, a mouth-watering champagne and seafood dinner at Holmes Mill and farm walks, to name just a few.

It will culminate in the food festival in Clitheroe town centre featuring quality food and drink – from wild game and Biltong beef to cheese truckles and curry kits, along with a feast of fruit and vegetables packed with authentic flavours – from around 90 exhibitors.

Bowland Brewery’s pop-up bar will be pitched on the Clitheroe Market car park, while festivalgoers can sample the olives and antipasti of the Compleat Food Group at its stand in Market Place.

The popular Mad Science will also set up a series of fun stations featuring demonstrations and hands-on activities throughout the town centre and there will be non-stop live music at the Clitheroe Market bullring.

Ricky Newmark, chairman of Ribble Valley Borough Council’s community services committee, said: “We have created a strong narrative around food over the years and established the Clitheroe Food Festival as one of the best in the UK.

“As well as being a free-to-enter family event, the festival provides a vital showcase for local shops, business and producers, and is a fantastic opportunity for people to see some amazing local produce.

“As well as top-quality artisan produce, festival-goers can expect to find a feast of family fun and non-stop street entertainment, while the icing on the cake is the new week-long Ribble Valley Taste Fest.

“We are extremely grateful to our sponsors for their contribution to this popular community showcase, which represents a considerable investment by the council and is now one of the best food festivals in the UK.”

Warren Bennett, commercial director of Holmes Mill, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring this fantastic event again and are looking forward to welcoming residents and visitors to the festival in August.

“Our Bowland Brewery bar will be serving our award-winning ales, which are brewed at Holmes Mill in Clitheroe, on the market – and we will be continuing the celebrations in the mill yard, with live music on the outside stage until 9pm.”

Laura Chadwick, HR manager at the Compleat Food Group, said: “We are extremely proud to be involved with our local community and delighted to be a headline sponsor of the Clitheroe Food Festival again this year.

“The team from our Lincoln Way and Twin Brook sites will be running a stand at the festival, serving our famous olives and antipasti for a small donation, with all proceeds going to charity.”

Ian Wilson, managing director at Fort Vale Engineering, added: “We are proud sponsors of the Clitheroe Food Festival, which supports regional food producers, sustainability and the local community.”

Further details are available at clitheroefoodfestival.com.

Will the Red Arrows fly over?

The world’s most famous aerobatic display team is to fly over Clitheroe this Saturday (August 12).

Weather permitting, the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, or Red Arrows, will fly over the Clitheroe Food Festival in Castle Street as it gets into full swing at about 1.56pm.

Representing the speed, agility and precision of the RAF, the Red Arrows have performed in their distinctive Hawk jets more than 5,000 times across the world.

And the fly-over – Clitheroe’s second in the last decade – promises to be a fantastic spectacle.

Nicola Hopkins, Ribble Valley Borough Council’s director of economic development and planning, said: “The Red Arrows are one of the most celebrated aerobatic display teams in the world and a fly-over by them, as the food festival gets into full swing, will be a fantastic spectacle.

“We are looking forward to a fabulous festival topped by this unique spectacle, which will be witnessed by thousands of people in the town centre.

“The Red Arrows last flew over Clitheroe in 2017 and we are honoured that they have chosen to fly over our town again, subject to the weather.”