Countdown begins to North East food and drink festival

With only a week to go, food and drink producers across North East Scotland are preparing to throw their doors open and share unique experiences with the public during this year’s Provenance Festival.

The 10-day festival inspires consumers to discover and explore the region’s world-renowned premium food and drink through engaging, hands-on and memorable visitor experiences with producers at source.

Well-loved and brand new experiences will take place across the region from Friday 30 September through to 9 October, including innovative collaborations and the chance to see behind the scenes at leading brands.

Collaborations

Businesses are collaborating to stage visitor experiences exclusively for Provenance Festival 2022.

Summerhouse Drinks and Down on the Farm are putting on a farm to seashore tour in Rosehearty, near Fraserburgh. 

Glen Tanar estate in Royal Deeside is hosting beekeeper Erling Watt to explore the story of the honey produced on the land.

And Still Spirit in Udny welcomes Craigellachie global malts ambassador Matthew Cordiner for an evening celebrating single malt whiskies.

Milla Wood, owner of Leaves and Snails, is holding a herbal infusion workshop as part of the festival. She said: “The aims of the festival are very important to me because what I do is all about connecting with the land.

“I channelled my love of foraging and mixing herbs into the Leaves and Snails business. I find the ritual of collecting leaves, mixing them with herbs and making herbal infusions incredibly therapeutic and I’m looking forward to sharing this in our workshop.”

Behind the scenes

Mackie’s of Scotland, Castleton Farm and Dean’s of Huntly are joining in and offering rare glimpses behind the scenes.

Provenance Festival 2022 offers something for all tastes and appetites with experiences including:

• taking the ice cream taste test at Mackie’s ice cream parlour, learning how they make their delicious ice cream

• a tour of the wackiest winery in Aberdeen with Two Raccoons, with wine made from fruits that would have otherwise gone to waste

• the opportunity to meet, greet and hand feed the deer at fresh game specialists Balmoral Game near Inverurie

• a guided tasting of some of the award-winning beers produced by Fierce Beer

• a special eight-course dinner at the Marine Hotel in Stonehaven, sourced entirely from local Aberdeenshire suppliers paired with wines selected and served by Faffless Aberdeen, a specialist organic & natural wine bar

Aberdeen Art Gallery will show “Stories from the Shire” throughout the festival. The 20-minute film tells the inspiring stories behind some of Aberdeenshire’s best food and drink producers and their locally grown, reared and created products.

Food tourism

Created and led by Opportunity North East (ONE), Provenance Festival was piloted in 2021 as part of action and investment to develop Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire as a premium food tourism destination. 

The focus is on visitor experiences connecting consumers with producers of authentic food and drink at its source. 

Provenance Festival 2022 is supported by Aberdeenshire Council and VisitAberdeenshire.

Peter Cook, ONE Director of Food Drink & Agriculture said: “The Provenance Festival is a fantastic showcase for the region’s ambition to be a leading destination for food tourism.

“North East Scotland produces some of the country’s finest food and drink products with great stories and heritage behind them. 

“The festival gives people the chance to see behind the scenes, meet passionate producers and hear the stories of sustainability and provenance behind their food and drink.”

More information on all the events that are running during the festival can be found at www.provenancefestival.co.uk