As The Pantiles Food and Drink Festival returns for the second year, we take an appetising look at the tasty treats on offer.
For 300 years The Pantiles has been THE place in Tunbridge Wells to enjoy a drink. We?re talking something with a little more of a kick than the waters of the Chalybeate Spring. Traditionally a destination offering Londoners somewhere to relax and have fun, with so many of the buildings formerly being taverns ? many more than there are today ? The Pantiles? reputation was probably well-deserved.
With this in mind, it?s fitting that this year?s Pantiles Food Festival has been renamed The Pantiles Food and Drink Festival ? with more emphasis on the wonderful wines, beers, ciders and juices produced in Kent and Sussex.
Taking place on Saturday May 19 and Sunday May 20, this is the follow-up to last year?s highly popular inaugural event which attracted more than 15,000 people over a sunny weekend in May.
Based on last year?s success, demand for pitches this time round has far outweighed availability ? but the organisers are hopeful that they have the right mix of sweet and savoury, hot and cold, food and drink all covered. Around 40 stallholders have been allocated pitches, selling meat, fish, game, cheese, ice cream, baked goods, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and many other tasty treats. Utilising both the Corn Exchange and the outside areas, the focal point will again be the al fresco display kitchen on the bandstand.
The festival will focus on the wonderful fresh Kent and Sussex produce; much of which is a feature at The Pantiles? regular farmers? market, with some interesting surprises thrown in for good measure.
Organised by the Association of Pantiles Traders, a non-profit group that puts together a calendar of fun events throughout the year, the festival is set to be one of the highlights of the summer months.
The festival has several objectives: promoting fresh Kent and Sussex produce, highlighting the importance of buying local, and bringing people to downtown Tunbridge Wells. It?s not gone unnoticed that the High Street, Chapel Place and The Pantiles are home to a wealth of interesting, independent shops, pubs and eateries.
Four chefs are lined up on both days to show their skills in the bandstand demonstration kitchen. Julian Leefe-Griffiths (of gastro pubs The Black Pig in Tunbridge Wells and The George & Dragon, Speldhurst) and Matthew Sankey (of Sankey?s Fishmongers and Seafood Brasserie) both made their ?stage? debut at the festival last year and were keen to make a repeat performance.
This year they will be joined by festival newbies Chris Bower and Dan Hatton of Thackeray?s and Richard Hards of Montrose Restaurant, by Southborough Common. An advocate of using the best local ingredients, Richard Phillips ? TV Chef and owners of Thackeray?s ? ?is patron of the event for the second year.
A programme of talks and ?tasting room? events is also being created this year, with further details to be announced nearer the time.
The marketing campaign for this year?s event is ?Eat, Drink, Be Merry?. A suitable phrase, given that?s what The Pantiles is all about ? both historically and going forward into the 21st century.
The Pantiles car park on Major Yorks Road (adjacent to The Common) offers convenient parking. Alternative parking is available at Union House on Eridge Road (by Sainsbury?s roundabout) and at Linden Park Road (behind the Corn Exchange). Some street parking is also available.
More info can be found at pantilestraders.co.uk or follow @pantilestraders on Twitter.
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