September is harvest time, when farmers around the county will be reaping and gathering in their crops in time for the Harvest Festival on Sunday September 30, the day of the first full moon after the Autumn Equinox on Saturday September 22.

The best Sussex producers will be showcasing produce ranging from apples to chillies and seafood to wine through rain or shine.

Here's our guide to the best fairs of fare over the next few weeks.

In Horsham, locals will be revelling in the finest local produce during the whole of September as the Horsham District Food and Drink Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary. The four-week spectacular has events involving restaurants and cafes, bistros and pubs, farms and farm shops, and breweries and vineyards, with harvest fairs, cream teas, guided walks and beer festivals amongst the tasty treats on offer.

The festival launches on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, September 1 and 2, with The Big Nibble , a weekend jam-packed with food-related events, including a local produce market, a beer trail round the town centre pubs and bars, and a Big Nibble Trail with free tasters at participating restaurants, pubs, cafes and market stalls. Chefs, including Ready Steady Cook's Tony Tobin , will perform and demonstrate on five stages around the town.

Horsham District Food and Drink Festival: for a programme of events, phone Horsham District Council on 01403 215264 or www.horsham.gov.uk.

The Big Nibble, Horsham: call 01403 215529, emailtco@horsham.gov.uk or visit www.thebignibble.co.uk .

The Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festiva l is also celebrating its 10th anniversary this month when ten days of foodie fun begin on Friday, September 7, and finish on Sunday September 16.

Festival director Nick Mosley says, “For its 10th birthday, we wanted to build on the phenomenal success of our Spring Harvest in April and do something a bit different this year, so we've created a more intensive Autumn Harvest food festival.

“As ever, the festival will showcase the fantastic food, drink and hospitality to be found in the city and surrounding Sussex, but in a more concise manner, making for a scrumptious fun-packed ten days.”

To launch the festival, wine experts and merchants will raise their glasses to their favourite wine at the Make Your Case event at Hotel du Vin in Brighton on the 7th, and over the weekend of September 8 and 9 the centrepiece Big Sussex Market will have Brighton buzzing on New Road and Jubilee Street in the North Laine.

Other events include a Children's Food Festival, a Vegan Maki Competition at Moshi Moshi restaurant in Bartholomew Square, Brighton, a Sussex Wine Dinner, and the Brighton Mix Off cocktail competition for young bartenders. The festival finishes with the free Sussex and the World Market on Hove Lawns, which features the quirky Sussex Cheese Bowling Championship.

The Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Festival: www.brightonfoodfestival.com .

Then things start to hot up. The Fiery Foods And Chilli Festival takes place at Victoria Gardens in Brighton from Friday, September 14, until Sunday, September 16.

Masochistic munchers will be testing out the hottest chillies in Saturday's now notorious Chilli-Eating Contest and throughout the weekend there will be live music, cookery demonstrations, debates, talks by experts from chilli nurseries, and competitions including the Amateur Sauce Contest.

Fiery Foods and Chilli Festival: visit www.fieryfoodsuk.co.uk .

Tents and marquees will be going up all around Hastings Old Town as the Hastings Seafood and Wine Festiva l attracts gastronauts from far and wide over the weekend of September 15 and 16.

Staged on The Stade open space, visitors will be able to feast on locally landed fish, washed down by locally produced wines, and enjoy street entertainment, music, beer tents, cookery demonstrations and talks.

Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival: visit www.hastings.gov.uk .

Apples are at the core of two festivals at the end of the month. The first is Lewes OctoberFeast , which begins on Friday, September 28, and runs until Sunday, October 7, with apple events including pressing in the market tower. Funds raised will help plant apple trees in the town. Restaurants and cafes around town will feature special menus and there will be pop-up suppers and a beer festival at the Snowdrop Inn at 119 South Street, Lewes, from Friday, October 5, until Monday, October 8.

Lewes OctoberFeast: visit www.lewesoctoberfeast.com


The Apple Affair at West Dean, Chichester, on Saturday and Sunday, September 29-30, celebrates the apple with fun activities such as apple bobbing and displays of dozens of varieties of apples and pears growing in the Victorian walled kitchen garden.


Apple Affair at West Dean, Chichester: to book tickets, visit www.westdean.org.uk .