SOMERSET FOOD TRAIL
THE SOMERSET FOOD TRAIL FESTIVAL RETURNS!
SAVE THE DATES: FRIDAY JULY 18 ~ SUNDAY JULY 27, 2025
The Somerset Food Trail Festival celebrates the best, most sustainably produced local food. After a break last year, we're delighted to announce that farmers, growers and food producers will be opening their doors to the public once again over a 10-day period this July. Mark the dates in your diary and get ready to explore the best locally sourced, sustainably produced food and drink the region has to offer.
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NEXT STEPS FOR TRAIL VENUES
PRACTICALITIES
Applications have now opened for food and farming enterprises and other participating venues that would like to take part in this year's Food Trail. You can find the application form here. Register to take part by June 1 to be sure of taking part. Please also make sure you have signed up to our mailing list and follow us on social media.
This year there will be a modest charge for listing on the website for participating venues. The Food Trail is run by volunteers, but it costs us hundreds of pounds to keep the website going each year. Making a small listing charge will cover these costs and provide some extra budget to promote the Trail more widely – something that many of you said would be helpful.
Listing on the website is free for community and non profit groups. Details are included on the registration form – and as ever, many Food Trail events or activities will remain free for visitors, although venues may charge a ticket price to cover their costs, especially in the case of 'Thirty Mile Feasts' or tasting events.
CLICK BELOW FOR THE APPLICATION FORM FOR TRAIL VENUES
Many events on the Food Trail are free, but a few special events, such as the feasts, require you to buy tickets in advance. Participating pubs and restaurants celebrate local food with a special menu or tasting event. If in doubt, check with the venue before setting out.
NATURE-FRIENDLY FOOD
LOCAL, SUSTAINABLE, DELICIOUS!
The Somerset Food Trail Festival celebrates the best, most sustainably produced local food. It's the first of its kind: a countywide event focused specifically on our more nature-friendly farmers and artisan producers – the local food heroes who are leading the transition to a new era of regenerative, agroecological farming, to cut emissions, restore wildlife and produce better, tastier, more nourishing food.
Take a look at the 2023 Somerset Food Trail Festival for an idea of the kinds of events and activities involved.
Thirty Mile Feast, Shatwell Farm
Photo by Matilda Temperley
A FARM-TO-FORK SHOWCASE
Based on the 'open studios' model of arts trails, the Somerset Food Trail Festival sees farmers, growers and food producers open their doors to the public at set times in July.
From biodynamic vineyards to community-funded food forests; aquaponic market gardens to milk-based vodka distillers; fermenters, foragers, smokeries, goat herders, bakeries: you name it, it’s here. And that’s before you get started on the cider and the cheese!
This is a chance to get out and explore some of the country's most beautiful and bountiful landscapes: a feast for the senses!
NAVIGATING THE FOOD TRAIL
HOW THE FOOD TRAIL WORKS
There is not one ‘Somerset Food Trail’. You choose the route yourself based on what catches your eye or whets your appetite. A good starting point is our interactive map, which will be back online once we've got all the entries for the 2025 Food Trail. This will give you an overview of what's on, where.
We've divided the Trail into clusters, or areas, to make it easier to navigate. You don’t, of course, have to confine yourself to one area, although each area will offer plenty to see and do.
Venues open for set times during the festival, and opening times vary, so check out the venue listing and their website before heading out. The Food Trail Festival is mostly free for visitors, although some events have a modest fee, and there will be a charge for feasts, of course.
Our aim is to showcase the range and richness of Somerset’s sustainable food and scene, while highlighting the crucial role we can all play in creating a shift to more nature-friendly farming through our everyday food choices.
INTRODUCING
THE THIRTY MILE FEAST!
'Feasts and tastings' are a central part of the Somerset Food Trail Festival as we celebrate the farms, landscapes, people and places behind Somerset’s most nature-friendly food and drink.
Last time, we introduced the 'Thirty Mile Feast Challenge' where most of the ingredients must be sourced from a 30-mile radius. It was a huge success with nearly 40 venues taking up the challenge.
The Thirty Mile Feast will return in 2025 – and this year, we hope that more venues will take up the idea of a feast. It doesn't have to be fancy – a picnic in a field for families using delicious locally grown ingredients is also a feast.
"Somerset is an amazing, beautiful county, producing food that’s recognised around the world. I’m delighted to support the Somerset Food Trail as a way of encouraging people to ‘buy local’, find out more about how food is made, and learn what farmers are doing to protect and care for the environment.”
MICHAEL EAVIS,
Dairy farmer and founder of Glastonbury Festival
