
Merthyr Food Festival 2025 returns for foodie fun and free family entertainment
The Merthyr Food Festival, an annual celebration of gastronomy and community spirit, is all set to return on Saturday, July 19.
Running from 10am until 6pm, this year's event promises a flavour-packed day filled with foodie delights, live music, and free family entertainment, making it the perfect summer outing for residents and tourists alike. And the best part is that it's completely free.
Steeped in rich history and cultural significance, Merthyr Tydfil was once a thriving hub during the industrial revolution. Today, the scenic location is popular not only for its historical charm but also for its vibrant community and scenic beauty.
Nestled amid the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park, the town provides an ideal base for exploring the natural landscapes of South Wales.
This blend of natural beauty, exciting attractions and lively cultural events makes it a must-see destination for this summer.
And whether you're a history buff, an outdoor enthusiast, or a foodie, the Merthyr Tydfil Food Festival is the perfect opportunity to visit and discover something special.
Explore a range of flavours
(Image: The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil)
Taking place in Penderyn Square, the festival will feature more than 40 stalls offering a wide range of culinary treats.
Visitors can expect to find everything from creamy cheeses and sizzling noodles to artisan pizzas and Persian stews.
For those with a sweet tooth, there will be the likes of handmade fudge, gooey brownies, cookies, and crepes to indulge in. And let's not forget the chutneys, cocktails, ciders, and other treats.
Please note alcoholic products are only available to people aged 18+. Merthyr Food Festival follows the 'challenge 25 policy' so you may be asked for ID when purchasing. Please drink responsibly. Do not drink if you are pregnant. Do not drink and drive.
Fun for all the family
(Image: The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil)
Merthyr Food Festival promises more than just great food, it's packed with fun street entertainment for all ages.
Visitors can expect a grand (and slightly over-the-top) greeting from The Welcoming Committee, and they should watch out for the health and safety inspectors who will be on a mission to spot every hazard.
Attendees should also make sure they don't miss Wanda & Rhonda - the hilarious tea-trolley waitresses serving up sweet treats, gossip and chaos in equal measure.
For the youngsters, Catita will be offering fantastic face painting services, transforming their little faces into magical masterpieces. Plus, there will be balloon modelling and much more.
Four brilliant bands will provide live music throughout the day, including The Breakfast Club and The Riverside Buskers, guaranteed to keep everyone entertained with feel-good tunes, dancing on the square, and festival vibes all day long.
The Merthyr Food Festival offers more than just tasty cuisine; it's a community celebration that brings together local businesses and families for a day of fun and festivities.
Everyone can explore the diverse culinary offerings of the town and bring their loved ones along for a great day out.
To find out more, visit welovemerthyr.net/event
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Wales Online
8 hours ago
- Wales Online
Merthyr Food Festival 2025 returns for foodie fun and free family entertainment
The Merthyr Food Festival, an annual celebration of gastronomy and community spirit, is all set to return on Saturday, July 19. Running from 10am until 6pm, this year's event promises a flavour-packed day filled with foodie delights, live music, and free family entertainment, making it the perfect summer outing for residents and tourists alike. And the best part is that it's completely free. Steeped in rich history and cultural significance, Merthyr Tydfil was once a thriving hub during the industrial revolution. Today, the scenic location is popular not only for its historical charm but also for its vibrant community and scenic beauty. Nestled amid the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park, the town provides an ideal base for exploring the natural landscapes of South Wales. This blend of natural beauty, exciting attractions and lively cultural events makes it a must-see destination for this summer. And whether you're a history buff, an outdoor enthusiast, or a foodie, the Merthyr Tydfil Food Festival is the perfect opportunity to visit and discover something special. Explore a range of flavours (Image: The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil) Taking place in Penderyn Square, the festival will feature more than 40 stalls offering a wide range of culinary treats. Visitors can expect to find everything from creamy cheeses and sizzling noodles to artisan pizzas and Persian stews. For those with a sweet tooth, there will be the likes of handmade fudge, gooey brownies, cookies, and crepes to indulge in. And let's not forget the chutneys, cocktails, ciders, and other treats. Please note alcoholic products are only available to people aged 18+. Merthyr Food Festival follows the 'challenge 25 policy' so you may be asked for ID when purchasing. Please drink responsibly. Do not drink if you are pregnant. Do not drink and drive. Fun for all the family (Image: The Big Heart of Merthyr Tydfil) Merthyr Food Festival promises more than just great food, it's packed with fun street entertainment for all ages. Visitors can expect a grand (and slightly over-the-top) greeting from The Welcoming Committee, and they should watch out for the health and safety inspectors who will be on a mission to spot every hazard. Attendees should also make sure they don't miss Wanda & Rhonda - the hilarious tea-trolley waitresses serving up sweet treats, gossip and chaos in equal measure. For the youngsters, Catita will be offering fantastic face painting services, transforming their little faces into magical masterpieces. Plus, there will be balloon modelling and much more. Four brilliant bands will provide live music throughout the day, including The Breakfast Club and The Riverside Buskers, guaranteed to keep everyone entertained with feel-good tunes, dancing on the square, and festival vibes all day long. The Merthyr Food Festival offers more than just tasty cuisine; it's a community celebration that brings together local businesses and families for a day of fun and festivities. Everyone can explore the diverse culinary offerings of the town and bring their loved ones along for a great day out. To find out more, visit


Scotsman
2 days ago
- Scotsman
Edinburgh International Book Festival: Food Highlights
From sunny Spain to Eastern Europe, this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival brings together a dream team of culinary experts, writes Gaby Soutar Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Edinburgh International Book Festival is spoiling us with an overflowing pantry's worth of food-related events this year. The majority are Table Talks that will be taking place at Elliott's Studio – a charming green-fronted ground floor tenement on Sciennes Road that's run by local chef and author, Jessica Elliott Dennison. These hot-cake tickets include Modern Middle Eastern Cooking with Sabrina Ghayour (August 14), who is often dubbed The Golden Girl of Persian Cooking. Poet Marjorie Lofti will be chatting to Ghayour about her latest cookbook, Persiana Easy, which features dishes including smoked aubergine salad with pickled chillies and feta. The ticket price of £30 includes a welcome drink and a taste of something delicious. For another spicy amuse bouche at Elliot's Studio, there's Delicious Magic: A Table Talk with Ixta Belfrage (August 20). Her cookbook, Fusao, celebrates the fun side of Brazilian cuisine. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Diana Henry PIC: Chris Terry Another guest at this venue is Diana Henry, the familiar author of a smorgasbord of cookbooks, including How to Eat a Peach. She'll be appearing at From There to Here: A Table Talk with Diana Henry (August 12), where she'll be discussing the new edition of her 2019 book, Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons, and the stories from the Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa that inspired it. Again, expect a welcome drink and a taster. If you miss that appearance, Henry will be popping up again later that day at the Spiegeltent, for Diana Henry: A Life in Food, where she'll be sharing further tales from two decades of eating, writing and travelling. The EIBF's food programme will also feature two appearances from restaurateur and writer Jose Pizarro, who was head chef at the Michelin-starred El Mesón de Doña Filo in Madrid and now looks after six restaurants in the UK. Have Lunch with Jose Pizarro (August 23) offers exactly that – a 'flavour-punch of a meal', inspired by his latest cookbook, The Spanish Pantry. They say that the key ingredients at this event will be tomatoes, lemons, saffron and Manchego. We hope they'll allow more than one helping. Perhaps not, though Pizarro will be back for seconds at a Redefining Spanish Cooking talk at the Spiegeltent (August 24). Alissa Timoshkina From sunny Spain to Eastern Europe, and in Olia Hercules: A Taste of Ukrainian History (August 10), the author will be at the Spiegeltent discussing her book Strong Roots, part memoir, part recipe guide, and an ode to her beleaguered homeland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Follow this event up with Best Root Forward: A Table Talk with Alissa Timoshkina (August 14), whose book, Kapusta, features vegetable-based and vibrant Eastern European dishes. At the Spiegeltent, she'll be chatting with fellow author Caroline Eden, including discussing her work for global fundraising campaign #CookForUkraine, and bigging up her favourite herb, dill. Benjamina Ebuehi PIC: Matt Alexander/PA Media Assignments

The National
5 days ago
- The National
I knew I needed Sir Geoff Palmer in my documentary instantly
Little did either of us realise that we would be meeting numerous times in that location over the next five years and how the footage we would create would have such an impact. I was on a mission. As a Scottish-Persian filmmaker, whose family members had experienced racism, and witnessing the damaging impact of countries being colonised, I wanted Scotland to own up to its past. I had been meeting numerous inspirational people in Scotland who knew about Scotland's links to transatlantic slavery, who were reaching out to the public in many ways. READ MORE: How Niamh Jobson's life is inspiring bone cancer treatment fundraising But it was still not mainstream. I wanted Sir Geoff in my documentary because he was excellent at communicating his wealth of knowledge about slavery in a personable way. But I soon found out from attending his lectures that his skill came at a cost. Geoff emailed me after a lecture saying 'on the night someone stabbed my back tyre … £216 later I don't mind, the response at the lecture was worth it.' At a similar time to meeting Sir Geoff I also met Adam Ramsay, a journalist who had submitted a petition to Edinburgh City Council. Adam was challenging the brief inscription on the Melville Monument that had no mention of Henry Dundas's impact on Britain's transatlantic slave trade. Sir Geoff had been lecturing about British generals and politicians linked to slavery including Dundas. I knew if I told Geoff about Adam's petition and connected them up there could be the potential of a good story. I was right. Geoff and Adam clicked, the dream team was formed and filming began. What I then witnessed was that the depth of Geoff's knowledge of Dundas would go to stratospheric levels due to his amazing aptitude for focus, his enviable intellect and his unbelievable persistence that was needed to make change. This is what made this a Bafta-winning documentary. There were so many highs and lows, long lulls of no action and by 2020 a stalemate. Then there was the murder of George Floyd. The frustration Sir Geoff felt about this stalemate and Floyd's murder pushed him to make his seminal speech at Holyrood Park in the summer of 2020 and action was finally taken. What I really appreciated was the trust and faith Geoff had in me, an emerging filmmaker, as I filmed him time and again. The initial footage we did was for YouTube and socials. There was a time I interviewed him and realised that the Costa Coffee signage was in the background. After apologising profusely and asking for a re-interview he accepted it graciously and agreed to drive back to Edinburgh from Penicuik. Our trust and bond developed over time. He opened up about his cancer when I witnessed him experiencing side effects during filming. I let him know about my father, also battling cancer, and we realised they were attending the same hospital. Admiration for Geoff continued as he excelled and revelled in high-pressure situations I set up, such as the group debate I created for Channel 4 News in 2018 where Sir Geoff, Adam Ramsay, Bobby Dundas, and Michael Fry attended. These were the four people battling it out about the inscription at council meetings and they were now battling it out on screen. READ MORE: 'Naked and Unashamed' cements Nan Shepherd's place in Scotland's literary canon As his cancer developed by 2022, he still managed to attend a screening and Q&A at Edinburgh Filmhouse despite his obvious side-effects. The broadcast of the first Channel 4 News film on the Dundas debate had a big impact in Scotland and the interest in Dundas and Scotland's slavery past started widening. This interest kept building as more journalists covered the story. It also sparked a petition on Dundas in Canada. Sir Geoff was starting to reach a bigger audience with a massive uplift in social media followers. This kept going. I produced another Channel 4 News film in 2020 and then the BBC broadcast my one-hour documentary Scotland, Slavery And Statues numerous times from October 2020. After these broadcasts, Sir Geoff chuckled to me about how many were speaking to him in the streets and supermarket in Penicuik. He was becoming a household name. Another serendipitous outcome for me was that Sir Geoff's son Ralph noticed my name on the end credits and realised there was a family connection. I have focused on Sir Geoff's involvement with the Melville Monument and the legacy of the new plaque and its educational benefits for those who visit it. But in parallel to this we all know the many other causes he has been involved in, the organisations and charities he has been part of, the people he has helped, the awards he has been given. It is outstanding. I was in awe of his levels of energy and drive and this was while he was battling cancer. He was a powerhouse that has left an amazing legacy. Geoff asked me to keep sharing footage I took of him to keep his message going and to keep educating and this I will do. In his final message to me he said: 'It was a delight to work with you, and you should take pride in your award … you gave a fair stand to us all to bring Scotland's honest history of slavery to Scotland' and I responded saying 'it was your grit and persistence that played a big role in making the documentaries successful…' Rest in Peace Sir Geoff. Condolences to Sir Geoff's family. Parisa Urquhart is a Bafta-winning documentary maker. Scotland, Slavery And Statues can be watched here in tribute to Sir Geoff.