1. Workshops and masterclasses

There are plenty of opportunities to delve more deeply into specific areas of food and drink during the Autumn Harvest. Coffee aficionados can get hands-on with coffee roasting and cupping with the experts in the Kemp Town roastery of Redroaster on Saturday 8 September, whilst over at the Food Partnership’s new Community Kitchen on Queens Road there’s a chocolate making workshop with the Brighton Cacao Company on Tuesday 11 September and a shell-fish masterclass with chef Isaac Bartlett-Copeland on Wednesday 12 September.

Following the success of their Cheese and Cocktail Matching evening during Brighton Cocktail Week in July, La Cave à Fromage and Drinks Abode reunite for a second outing on Friday 7 September. You’ll learn the basics of cocktail making, then make three drinks that Drinks Abode’s Simeon has invented especially for the evening, each of which is the perfect partner to La Cave’s cheeses. Prepare to have your preconceptions well-and-truly challenged.

Blackdown Distillery partners with Market Restaurant and Bar on Western Road on Sunday 16 September for a Negroni masterclass. This Italian aperitif cocktail is bang on trend right now and you’ll have the opportunity to sample the classic alongside some twists using spirits from Blackdown in West Sussex and also locally produced vermouths made by Sussex vineyards, all accompanied by specially designed tapas from Market’s kitchen.

2 Gin

Running throughout the festival period, from Thursday 6 until Sunday 16 September, many festival partners will be serving up themed gin and tonics and gin-based cocktails for just £5 each. Bohemia, Curry Leaf Café, Hilton Brighton Metropole, The Ginger Dog, Mekaba, Metrodeco, The Old Ship, Pascere and Tropical Sushi are just some of the twenty or so participating venues – for a full list visit the festival website.

3 Wine

As always, there are plenty of events where you can delve into the world of wine. Blanch House hosts the festival’s opening gala dinner in conjunction with Pommery Champagne and Repast Supper Club on Thursday 6 September. Repast’s Sam Bilton will be showcasing a five course menu crafted around key dates in the past 350 years of Pommery’s history, each course accompanied by a perfectly matched champagne from the grande marque house. Hot from Channel 4’s My Kitchen Rules series, chef and historian Sam and Pommery’s Miriam Watson will guide you through what’s guaranteed to be an utterly unique wine and food adventure.

The Bull in Ditchling teams up with Ridgeview Wine Estate for a pre-harvest tasting matched with canapés on Thursday 13 September, whilst over at Bolney Wine Estate you can combine a morning of yoga with a tour of the vineyard and tasting on Tuesday 11 September.

Throughout the festival period, Great British Wine Tours are running full-day excursions to some of Sussex’s wineries that include two stops, tastings, tours, a slap-up pub lunch and transport for just £79. Its the perfect way to enjoy the bounty of Sussex wine… and let someone else do all the driving.

Plumpton College’s wine lecturer Tony Milanowski makes a very welcome return to the festival lline-up with the return of Super Tasters at My Brighton hotel on Friday 14 September. Here you’ll learn the principles of tasting wine and how to spot wine faults. Super Tasters is a fun and informal event that is suitable for everyone, no matter what level of wine knowledge you hold.

Running on the afternoons of Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 September is the festival’s Cheese & Wine Trail. From 2-6pm both days, around 15 venues across the city will be offering a glass of wine and matched cheese or cheese canapé for just £5. From Butler’s Wine Cellar in Kemp Town via Drakes on Marine Parade through to the Ginger Pig in Hove Street, its a truly tasty way to explore the city and some great wine pairings.

4. Local

The food festival has always had the producers of Sussex at its heart, and this September is no exception. The team at Isaac At in Gloucester Road will be taking you on a Sussex Tasting Tour on Tuesday 11 September with a menu of exclusively hyper locally sourced produce, accompanied by wines from local vineyards.

Boho Gelato presents a ‘Festival Flavours’ takeover at their Pool Valley store over the weekend of Friday 14 to Sunday 16 September. All of the flavours featured will be created in collaboration with food festival partner restaurants, bars and producers so expect some weird and wacky creations from master gelato maker Seb Cole’s lab.

The recently opened Flour Pot Bakery in the beachside King’s Road Arches hosts a feast of oysters introduced by experts from Andain and Wilde, plus dishes including a Sicilian seafood stew and short rib from Trenchmore Farm in West Sussex, alongside matched wines on Wednesday 12 September.

Neighbouring Murmur will be hosting Food Lab – possibly the food festival’s most wanted ticket each year – for the culinary highlight of the year. Eight local chefs including Michael Bremner of 64 Degrees, Dave Mothersill of The Salt Room, Steven Edwards of Etch, Jimmy Gray of Jeremy’s Restaurant, Sam Pryor of Fourth and Church, Alun Sperring of The Chilli Pickle, Seb Cole of Boho Gelato and Isaac Bartlett-Copeland of Isaac At, are each partnered with a local food producer to create a unique eight course tasting menu, which is further paired with wines from eight Sussex wineries. This epic lunch on Sunday 9 September is a Brighton gastronomic tour de force.

For complete information on all events, pick up a festival brochure from participating venues or visit www.brightonfoodfestival.com