A popular food and drink festival is returning to Corfe Castle in Dorset, showcasing the best in Purbeck produce – with the chance to sample and buy a range of tasty treats.
Following the success in 2024 when more than 2,000 visitors attended the inaugural festival, organiser Love It Local is again collaborating with the National Trust to hold a weekend celebration on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July 2025.
All kinds of street food will be available at the festival to try out
Arts and crafts marquee
Stalls will be set out in the outer bailey, aiming to cater for every taste against the perfect backdrop of the castle ruins.
There will be a selection of local artisan foods, homemade snacks and street foods, including paella, Thai dishes, curries, burgers, and fish, with cheeses, chutneys, sauces, jams, honey and savoury bites to try and to buy.
Dorset drink companies will be tempting visitors with small batch botanical liqueurs, cider, and rum, while those with a sweet tooth will be able to treat themselves to ice cream, brownies, shortbread, and much more.
A large arts and crafts marquee will offer gifts made from wood, driftwood and sea glass, along with art prints, greeting cards, homewares, garden textiles, parasols, and locally made jewellery.
There will be live music performances, as well as community radio station Purbeck Sounds broadcasting across the weekend.
Popular sea shanty singers the Wareham Whalers will be among the musical line up
“It’s about showcasing local producers”
Eoin McDowell, Corfe Castle’s experience manager, said:
“Purbeck has some of the best artisan businesses around, and we can’t wait for the vibrant, fun atmosphere the food and drink festival brings.
“We are working with Love It Local, who asked us if they could host an event in the castle grounds – we did host a food festival of our own here about 10 years ago, but we didn’t really have the capacity to carry on with it ourselves, which is why it is so wonderful to work in partnership.
“It is all about celebrating the amazing food culture we have here, and last year was a great success, with around 25 stall holders and a big marquee, live music and local crafts.
“As much as possible, it’s about showcasing local producers and providers, and the vast majority of them come from Purbeck and South Dorset, which is fab.”
Purbeck Ice Cream is always a favourite to keep visitors cool
More than 2,000 visitors in 2024
Eoin added:
“There were over a thousand people who came on each day, about 2,300 visitors in total and it was nice to report that there were a lot of local people who came.
“This is the time of year when we start getting a lot of tourists and visitors from further afield, but the food festival really felt like a local event, which was nice.
“There has been a huge increase in people who would like to exhibit for 2025 and we would love to be a little bit bigger, but we are constrained this year by the conservation work going on.
“For this year at least the fair will have to be kept at the same size, but the demand was there for it to grow and who knows in future years we may be able to utilise other parts of the castle and expand.”
A wide variety of locally produced cheeses will be available to try
“Incredible food and drink produce”
Malcolm Lewis-Fry of Love It Local said:
“Corfe Castle is the perfect place to host incredible food and drink produce from across the Isle of Purbeck – what could be better than a great atmosphere, fantastic food, lively music and brilliant views?
“The first show was held last year as the result of an idea I had that Corfe Castle would be a perfect space to host an event showcasing some incredible food and drink from across the Isle of Purbeck.
“I remembered that the castle had held something similar there, on a smaller scale, about 10 years ago, and wondered whether we could do something.
“Eoin and James at the castle were very enthusiastic, and I thought we could make the show even more interesting with some live music and crafts, which went down really well.”
Pantastic’s unmissable paella will be available at the festival
“Fork to farm philosophy”
Malcolm added:
“It is one of those organic things which just grows. This year we had a waiting list of businesses wanting to take part, I think we could probably have filled the space twice over, but it has meant that we have been able to get a wide selection of different foods and drinks from Dorset.
“There’s nothing better than eating and drinking good local produce, it’s the farm to fork philosophy, keeping that distance as short as possible to support local producers and keep road miles down.
“We are very fortunate that there are so many amazing local farmers and food companies in Purbeck and South Dorset and we look forward to welcoming them to Corfe Castle.
“Last year, we were so lucky with the weather – it had been raining heavily first thing on both days, but by about 10 am the sun came out.
“But that’s why we have the big marquee, because if the heavens do open at least there is somewhere for everyone to run to!”
The Love It Local food and drink festival will run from 10 am to 5 pm, with normal admission charges applying. No additional charge for National Trust members.
Purbeck’s Salt Pig local farm produce will be on sale at the festival
Food producers at the festival
- Dorset Deer Shack Venison cured meats including jerky, salami and chorizo
- From Dorset with Love with its jams, chutneys, sauces and vinegars
- Horty’s Honey selling locally produced honey and natural beeswax candles
- Weymouth 51 with its artisan fermented chilli sauces, kimchi and condiments
- Wild Partridge selling chilli jam and gifts
- Valley of Stones Cheese has a selection of locally produced cheese
The Black Ven distillery makes small batch artisan rums
Drink producers at the festival
- Black Ven Distillery with dark oak aged rum, white rum, spiced rum and cream liqueur
- Dancing Goat with speciality coffee, cold and iced drinks, smoothies and milkshakes
- Dorset Nectar Cider with bottled and draft cider, perry and organic apple juice
- Shorton Fair Gin with locally produced spirits
- Whimsical Forager with handcrafted botanical liqueurs including lemon and basil, orange and tarragon, nettle, honey and ginger
Swanage Bay Fish’s seafood platter is legendary
Street food stalls at the festival
- A Taste of Thailand with green curry, Panang curry, and Bangkok noodles
- Angithi on Saturday only, with curry dishes.
- Swanage Bay Fish on Sunday only, with fish, crab, prawns and lobster
- Flaming Peaches selling pizza and burgers
- Kingston Country Courtyard with smashed burgers and vegan alternatives
- Manju’s Delicious Street Food with wraps, samosas, chaat, lassi, veg curry and burgers
- Pantastic Swanage’s famous Paella
Horty’s Honey of Sandford will be selling local honey and natural beeswax candles
Other local companies taking part
- Bayside Bakery with chocolate brownies
- Dorset Shortbread
- Purbeck Ice Cream with fruit sorbets and plant based alternatives
- The Salt Pig and its local farm produce
Further information
- Full details including the final live music line-up are on the Love It Local website
- Discover the summer itinerary of events at Corfe Castle
