Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival

For a small island the Isle of Man excels in the quality and variety of its locally produced food and drink – and what better way to celebrate this than at the Isle of Man Food & Drink Festival?

The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture are inviting local businesses to submit their application forms to attend the Isle of Man Food & Drink Festival on the 16th and 17th September. Download the on line application form or download at downloadable documents. The deadline is 28th April 2017.

The 2017 Isle of Man Food & Drink Festival will take place on 16th and 17th September at the Villa Marina Gardens.

A record 10,000 people visiting the two day celebration of local produce and cooking attended the 2016 Isle of Man Food & Drink Festival – beating the previous record by nearly 3,000.

In the previous year 7,000 people flocked to the festival – equalling the number of visitors in the event's first year, when TV stars The Hairy Bikers proved a big draw.
In 2016 the event had even more stands to enjoy, including 12 first-time exhibitors, plenty of opportunities to sample local food and drink, lots for all the family to do plus an extended entertainment programme.

The festival's popularity reflects the growth in Isle of Man food and drink, being driven by DEFA's Food Matters strategy, and the growing desire among people to support local food and drink producers and businesses.

There was a high standard among the 60 exhibitors, making the job of choosing the best stand difficult for the Minister, BBC presenter and celebrity farmer Gareth Wyn Jones, the guest of honour at the festival.

They awarded the accolade to BallaKarran Meat Company.

Each year the Festival welcomes local chefs to compete in competitions and this year Zaneta Krol from Haworth's Restaurant won the title of Isle of Man Chef of the Year (recipe Manx Honey Parfait with Okells Aile Porter Sorbet) and John McMullin won the Isle of Man Student Chef of the Year (recipe Rack of Lamb).

Winning recepies from John McMullen and Zaneta Krol.

The Festival Planning Committee will provide details of next year’s event as they become available.

Special off Island packages are available, please visit ww.visitiom.co.uk/iomfoodanddrink

For year-round updates about the festival, like the Facebook page Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival 2016, follow @iomfoodanddrink on Twitter or visit http://iomfoodanddrink.com/

View videos of past festivals.

Images from the last festival 

The Festival Planning Committee will listen to all the feedback from festival-goers and incorporate even more good ideas into the 2017 event.

For further information you can contact: