Brighton and Hove Food And Drink Festival Easter Weekender

Various venues, Wednesday, April 1, to Monday, April 6

NOW in its 14th year, the bi-annual celebration of the city’s food and drink is undergoing another shake-up for 2015.

Traditionally Brighton And Hove Food And Drink Festival’s Spring Harvest took place over the Easter holidays.

But this year it has been split in two, with the new Easter Weekender followed in the last week of May by the Spring Harvest in association with Brighton Fringe.

“Everyone has been clamouring for something around Christmas,” says festival director Nick Moseley. “We thought we would rather have four events over the year than just two – it puts less pressure on everyone.

“We are still celebrating Sussex and local food, although it is also about bringing interesting things from elsewhere through the Chef Exchange programme, which is now going as far as Vancouver and St Lucia.”

The Easter Weekender launches on Wednesday with a Chateau Musar Wine Dinner at The Restaurant At Drakes, in Marine Parade, from 7.30pm. Tickets cost £85 for a menu matching fine wines from the Lebanese Chateau Musar winery.

There is more wine talk on Thursday with Make Your Case: Extreme! at Hotel du Vin in Ship Street. The event, in aid of Rockinghorse Children’s Charity, will see presenters pitching an unusual wine to the audience in just three minutes accompanied by a blind tasting.

The ever-popular Big Sussex Market returns to New Road from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, celebrating the best in local producers.

And on Easter Monday from 11am Pavilion Gardens will host the annual Easter Egg Hunt for five to 11-year-olds, aimed at raising cash for Rockinghorse and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital. Entry costs £3 per child.

The same day grown-ups will be able to follow their own trail around Brighton’s best restaurants. Participants pay £12 each to sample 12 menus across the city ranging from Curry Leaf Café and La Choza to the Chilli Pickle and Boho Gelato between 2pm and 5pm. Ten Green Bottles, in Jubilee Street, will be hosting a bring your own bottle afternoon the same day.

The Spring Harvest runs from Wednesday, May 20, to Monday, June 1 and features the Children’s Food Festival, Sussex And World Market, and Beer, Cider and Wine Festivals on Hove Lawns, as well as a range of tastings, pop-up restaurants and chef exchanges.

For more information visit brightonfoodfestival.com