Swanage Fish and Food Festival has marked its tenth anniversary with proper midsummer weather and bumper crowds.
Visitors poured into Sandpit Field as early clouds dispersed and the heat built up, in stark contrast to last year when the June festival had to be postponed because of heavy rain and gale force winds – and then the rescheduled event in August was plagued by torrential downpours.
Swanage Mayor Mike Bonfield cut a special cake – decorated with fish, of course! – to help celebrate the festival’s 10th birthday
Opened by Mayor Mike Bonfield
Regardless of the weather, the 2024 festival raised £4,000 for Swanage Lifeboat, Swanage NCI Station and The Fishermen’s Mission, and this year hopes are high that the final total will be even more.
Swanage Mayor Mike Bonfield opened the weekend event on Saturday 21st June 2025 by cutting a cake decorated with iced fish and also by presenting 10-year volunteers Robin and Ann Tiller with a thank you gift for their loyal support.
Robin and Ann Tiller were praised for all the volunteer work they have done over the last 10 years
Stalwart volunteers thanked
Mike Bonfield said:
“Robin and Ann Tiller have been stalwarts of this festival ever since the beginning, and the committee has asked me to present them with a token of their appreciation for their 10 years of service.
“Now I’d like to ask everyone to enjoy the festival, dig deep and spend your money, it’s all for a very good cause.
“The town is very grateful to the whole festival committee who have been putting on this event for the past ten years, during which time it has grown in size and has become a firm favourite on our calendar.
“It’s a pleasure to open the tenth anniversary event, it’s very good to know that we have a weekend of good weather forecast, and I am sure that everyone here will have a wonderful time!”
Julia Noone explained how mackerel had gone from a cheap staple of school dinners to posh fish
“Mackerel is now a posh fish”
One of the best loved elements of the show, the cookery demonstrations, for the first time welcomed guests from Dorset vineyard Bride Valley Wines, as Anna Carey helped fish expert Julia Noone to pair food and drink perfectly.
Julia Noone, of Swanage Bay Fish, said:
“Mackerel fishing has taken a real hit of late from over fishing – mackerel used to be a humble fish, but were made popular about 10 years ago when TV chefs said we should eat them, and unfortunately the pelargic trawlers sucked all the shoals out of the Channel and there are no longer many left inshore.
“We have always associated mackerel with the summer, but as anyone who has spent summer days mackerel fishing from Swanage knows, you have to try hard to catch your fish. They are ideal for the barbecue and they are now a posh fish – that’s a sign of the times.”
Cheers! Anna Carey of Bride Valley Wines extolled the virtues of Dorset’s vineyards
“Always start to think about wine”
Anna Carey, of Bride Valley Wines, said:
“When I look at that mackerel, I start thinking about ways to serve it like mackerel and mango salad, or mackerel pate, and as soon as I start thinking about food I always start to think about wine and what would go well with the meal I’m going to prepare.
“With locally caught mackerel, you could partner it with Dorset Chardonnay, and if you’re a big fan of Chablis you will love it because cool climate Chardonnay is beautifully minerally, zesty and lemony, and very refreshing, and it goes wonderfully with fresh mackerel.”
Raising a glass or two in celebration of local fish and local wine
“Delicious flavours on your nose”
Anna added:
“When we taste food and wine we do most of our tasting with our noses, so you should always twirl your wine to let some oxygen in to open up the aroma, and have a good long sniff, because you immediately engage your plate with the wine and it’s one of life’s biggest pleasures.
“Your Chardonnay will smell of Sicilian lemons, Braeburn apples, minerals, salt sea breezes and you pick up all those delicious flavours on your nose, so when you taste it you will get a mouthwatering sensation and will cut through the flavours of what you are eating it with and complement it.
“And if you’re a fan of Champagne, you should really try English sparkling wine – the only difference is the name. We use the same grape varieties, the Pinot Noir, the Chardonnay, the Pinot Meunier, we have the same climate, if not a better climate now, the same chalky soils and we produce it in exactly the same way.
“It’s all grown and made 30 minutes away, so there is almost no mileage – if you are importing wines from abroad the carbon is pretty big, so if you want to drink environmentally friendly, then drink English.”
Private chef and chocolatier Christian Orner of the Salt Co entertained a large audience which packed the event tent
As ever, the guest chef demonstrations proved to be one of the most popular draws of the festival
Epic, Purbeck Ice Cream’s first totally electric van, made its festival debut
Wider range than ever of food and drink
Other guest chefs over the weekend included Eric Olinet of the Black Swan, James Shadbolt from Pig on the Beach and Giuseppe Sinaguglia of the Olive Tree Cookery School.
Expert chocolatier Claire Burnet of Chococo and private chef, chocolatier and baker Christian Orner, also packed out the event tent with lively, informative and entertaining demonstrations.
A wider range than ever of fish, food and drink to try included Nordic smoked salmon, Thai street food and Purbeck venison burgers – and Purbeck Ice Cream also brought along their first ever fully electric eco van, satisfyingly named Epic, the Eco Purbeck Ice Cream van!
New for 2025 was the artisans’ tent for local artists and crafters, which proved to be hugely popular and is guaranteed to make a return in future years
Pantastic’s paella pans filled the air with irresistible smells
Purbeck wild venison burgers were the last word in field to fork food
“We had some perfect weather as well!”
Festival spokesperson Caroline Finch said:
“It was a wonderfully busy weekend on a festival site packed with so many different foods and drinks with enticing flavours and scents.
“For the first time this year we have a marquee crammed full of stunning gifts, jewellery, artwork and artisan foods, bringing together the best in local crafting, art and food specialists, which we think is a perfect match with the gourmet foods we also offer.
“Alongside our popular kitchen demo stage with some talented and knowledgeable chefs, a children’s area with craft and games for our young visitors and a huge range of musical talent to serenade all our visitors, we think we have a festival to be truly proud of.
“We have achieved so much together over the last decade, growing the festival into a much loved fixture in Swanage’s packed festival calendar, but we love that it has retained its village fete vibe – and this year we had some perfect weather as well!”
The skies were blue as Swanage Fish and Food Festival finally enjoyed some perfect weather conditions
Sandpit Field saw crowds of festival goers descend over the weekend
We’ll be back … the new Artisans’ Tent proved extremely popular
Swanage Coastwatch is one of the festival’s chosen charity for its wonderful work helping to make our coastline safer
The Fishermen’s Mission – or Fish Mish, for short – spread the word of its charity work
Little Fish kept young visitors to the festival busy with fish themed games and crafts
Local musicians kept the crowds entertained throughout Saturday and Sunday
Ten tentacles for the first ten years – here’s to the festival’s second decade!
Further information
- Follow the Fish and Food Festival on its Facebook page
