Food & Drink events

Looking for an event to tantalise your taste buds?

Dorset is renowned for its local produce and as well as the regular farmers' markets that you can find sprinkled around the county, Dorset hosts a range of gourmet celebrations from beer, cheese and seafood festivals to large scale events showcasing the delectable delights from across the whole county! For a full list of Dorset's annual foodie events, read our Food Festivals blog.

Dorset’s chilli festivals

One of Dorset's hottest food festivals has to be the Great Dorset Chilli Festival!  A glorious weekend of 'chilli fiesta', this fun and friendly festival is a must for chilli enthusiasts, food lovers and anyone looking for a great day out. There's plenty to keep the kids entertained as well!

If you love chilli and cheese, then you’re in luck. Along with amazing flavours, you can watch cookery demonstrations, listen to live music or take part in a chilli eating competition at the Christchurch Cheese and Chilli Festival.

Forage for your own food in Dorset

Dorset's landscape is perfect for foraging and there are events that teach you new skills and help you forage and cook your own food in our great outdoors!  This activity is a fantastic experience for groups of all sizes and ages.

Whether you are fishing for your supper or foraging for seaweed, Fore Adventure offer some great foodie experiences on land or in the water.

Dorset’s wine tasting events

The warm summer temperatures and mild climate in Dorset makes for a perfect place to grow vines. We’re lucky to have some fantastic award-winning vineyards in the county, and many of them offer wine tasting tours and events.

If you like what you taste, they all offer in-person or online sales of their produce, and some also have cafés and overnight accommodation too.

Seafood and fish festivals

SeaFeast - the Dorset Seafood Festival celebrates seafood in style...with a bit of fizz! Set on Weymouth's peninsula with the beautiful sandy beach as a backdrop, this fantastic event provides fun and entertainment for the whole family...and of course lots of delicious local food and drink for you to sample. 

The Swanage Fish and Food Festival is a free event that grows in popularity each year. Along with seafood stallholders, you’ll find street food, coffee, pizza, ice-cream and more. Plus there’s live music as well.

Breweries and cider farms

If you love real ale or cider, you're in luck because Dorset has a number of breweries and cider farms where you can try out the difference flavours. Some of them offer tasting tours where you can find out about the brewing process and then get to sample a few varieties at the end of the tour. Many also have onsite pubs or bars, as well as onsite shops to buy your favourites to take home.