Martin Norsworthy
Salcombe Crabfest
Martin Norsworthy
crabfest chefs
Claw crackers at the ready! Salcombe Crab Festival - or Crabfest - returns on Sunday 5 May and is the ideal family day out for fun-loving foodies in search of entertainment over the early May bank holiday weekend.
Inspired by the famously flavoursome Salcombe Brown Crab, Crabfest is an annual celebration of the local fishing, food and tourism industries. Visitors to the festival can look forward to a full day of events including cookery demos with celebrity chefs, crab picking masterclasses, gin tastings, live music and an impressive assortment of top quality stalls and exhibits.
Entry is free and funds raised by the festival are donated to local charities and good causes.
Getting there couldn’t be easier with a special park and ride bus service that drops festival-goers at the heart of the festival.
TV Chef Matt Tebbutt will officially open the festival at 10am in the Chefs’ Demonstration Tent at Creek Car Park, kicking off a packed programme of kitchen demos by an exciting mix of celebrity chefs and talented local stars.
Joining Matt to showcase a selection of their favourite seafood recipes will be: Jack Stein (chef director at the Rick Stein Group), Freddy Bird (Lido Bristol), Mitch Tonks (The Seahorse) Jane Baxter (Wild Artichokes), Allister Bishop (South Sands Hotel), Andy Richardson (The Oyster Shack), Jamie Rogers (Twenty_seven) and Malcolm Church (The Bear and Blacksmith). There’ll be tasters to try at the end of each demo and Salcombe Gin will be serving up some exciting gin cocktail pairing suggestions.
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This year the Chefs’ Demo Tent will also host a crab picking masterclass followed by a crab picking contest, organised by Salcombe Holiday Homes. Expect things to get messy as this year’s chefs battle it out with mallet and pick to see who can extract the most crab meat, with the least shell, in the quickest time.
If you’re feeling inspired to have a go at home, visitors to this year’s festival will be able to buy live crab and lobster direct from the boats. For the less intrepid, there’ll be plenty of other opportunities on the day to enjoy the unique taste of Salcombe crab.
More than 70 businesses will be exhibiting at the festival selling an unrivalled mix of locally produced food, drink, artisan crafts, clothing, gifts and escapes.
Families with young children will find a range of fun activities awaiting them at the Coast and Country Cottages stand. And don’t forget to enter the 2019 Salcombe Crab Festival competition while you’re there!
This year, in association with Crabfest, two special fundraising events are taking place at local venues ahead of the Festival. On Friday 3 May, The Wardroom in Salcombe is hosting a five course fine dining menu by South West Chef of the Year, Jamie Rogers, and on Saturday 4 May a luxury Crabfest BBQ with special guest chefs will take place in the afternoon at Gara Rock.
What better way to kick off a cracking Crabfest weekend?
For more information visit: salcombecrabfest.co.uk
