Last weekend saw me experience my first ever food festival. Urban Night Feast took place at the Stephenson Works in Newcastle from the 27th to the 29th September and was the North East’s first night food market. The event brought together some of the best food vendors and chefs in the UK from a variety of cuisines, including, Spanish, Indian, Thai and British. Also at the festival, to my delight were Passione Vino, who specialise in bringing traditional winemakers from Italy to a wider audience, and Wylam Brewery who supply pubs, bars and restaurants with some of the best ales from the North East.
Urban Night Feast is not something which I would usually attend but I was pursuaded into going by my friend, a self-confessed food lover. I went with all intentions of enjoying the wine more than the food but actually found myself getting caught up in the wonderful atmosphere. By the time we arrived there were already crowds of people, from all walks of life, queuing at the vendors, chatting, smoking and drinking. Despite the long queues, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the atmosphere was helped along by DJ’s and music courtesy of CoolAid.
Some of the food vendors which were there were El Kantina serving mexican and southern USA street food, Rileys Fish Shack, Horn Ok Please selling authentic Indian street snacks, Pizzette, and some local chefs, including David Kennedy – former chef of the year – and The Broad Chare, the latest venture from the North East’s much loved chef Terry Laybourne.
Our first taster of the night was from Rachel McCormack’s Catalan Cooking vendor. We sat on small wooden seats while we sipped (very strong) white wine from Passione Vino and shared some chickpea and chorizo stew – which was lovely, I must add. As we were sitting with our food, I noticed that families had brought along their children to the event. This is a great way to introduce young people to different cuisines.
Our next port of call was Latimer Seafood. I will admit fish isn’t my favourite however my friend convinced me to try some of the hot smoked salmon and it was delicious! Their smoked haddock and leek pasties were selling particularly well.
From a complete food festival novice, Urban Night Feast was a very successful event and thouroughly enjoyable evening, bringing the North East together for a night of food, liquors and festivities.
For more information on Urban Night Feast and any of the vendors, visit www.urbannightfeast.co.uk or follow them on Twitter @urbannightfeast
Life In Mixed Print 
