http://www.shaftesbury-food-festival.co.uk/

Shaftesbury Food Festival, High Street, Shaftesbury (2026)

12/06/2026

✨When a top journalist travels all the way from Loughborough at short notice to experience a community festival, it’s never taken for granted 🚙

Donna didn’t simply report on the Shaftesbury Food Festival. She immersed herself in it, capturing the atmosphere, character and joy that make the day so special 🧡

As Donna observed:

“The atmosphere of the Gold Hill Cheese Race on Gold Hill is pure, joyful chaos in the best possible way. The steep cobbles become a stage for laughter, cheers and nervous anticipation …”

Reading her feature felt like being transported straight back to the heart of the festival, as she captured the magic of our setting:

“At the top of Gold Hill, the scene opens out into something quietly timeless. The steep cobbled street, framed by its iconic cottages, leads the eye towards the edge of town …”

It’s a reminder of just how fortunate we are to call this remarkable place home.

🍽️ 🧀 Beyond the food, demonstrations and festivities, Donna recognised something even more important: the connections that happen when people come together.

🎤 “One of the most memorable moments came during the MasterChef live sessions, when the distance between the audience and the chef seemed to disappear completely …”

Those moments of genuine interaction are at the very heart of what we hope to create.

🙏 Thank you, Donna Richardson of Luxe Serendipity Magazine, for your enthusiasm, curiosity and generous storytelling. Your article captured not just what happened, but how it felt to be part of the day.

We were especially delighted that you shared the adventure with your family, whose passion for food and the MasterChef experience made the weekend even more memorable 👨🏻‍🍳💞

🔗 Read Donna’s captivating full feature here: https://luxeserendipitymagazine.com/2026/05/09/on-hovis-hill-for-the-shaftesbury-food-festival/

We look forward to welcoming Donna and her family back to Shaftesbury next year for another helping of food, fun and a little Gold Hill magic ✨🧀 💖

📸 Photography by

03/06/2026

🌾✨ Food Trail Spotlight: Stoate & Sons, Cann Mills

What better way to conclude this year’s Food Trail than by visiting one of Dorset’s most enduring food producers, where nearly two centuries of milling heritage continue to shape the food we eat today?

🚜🌾 As the final stop on the trail, visitors were welcomed to Stoate & Sons at Cann Mills, a business whose story stretches back to 1832 and spans five generations of the Stoate family.

🏛️ Set beside the River Stour just outside Shaftesbury, Cann Mills offers a rare glimpse into a craft that sits at the very foundation of our food system. Here, traditional stoneground flour is still produced with the care, skill and attention to detail that have defined the business for generations.

🎂 🥐 🥨 For Food Trail guests, the visit provided a fascinating insight into the journey from grain to flour and, ultimately, to the bread, cakes, pastries and baked goods we enjoy every day. It was a chance to look beyond the finished product and appreciate the expertise required at the very beginning of the chain.

🍞 From artisan bakeries and independent food producers to enthusiastic home bakers, Stoate & Sons continues to supply those who value flavour, provenance and quality ingredients. Their commitment to traditional stoneground milling helps preserve both the character of the grain and a craft that has shaped Dorset’s food heritage for generations.

💫 As the final stop of the day, there was something particularly fitting about ending at the mill. After meeting farmers, cheesemakers, winemakers, growers and producers throughout the trail, visitors were reminded that so much of what we enjoy on our plates begins with simple ingredients transformed by knowledge, patience and craftsmanship.

✨ Our heartfelt thanks to the Stoate family and the entire team for sharing your remarkable story and welcoming our visitors so warmly. Your dedication to preserving traditional milling, supporting local food producers and championing quality ingredients provided a memorable and meaningful finale to this year’s Food Trail.

📸 Photography courtesy of Stoate & Sons.

03/06/2026

🍇 Food Trail Spotlight: Breezy Ridge Vineyard 🥂🍾

What could be better than sipping award-winning English sparkling wines surrounded by the very vines that produced them?

✨ As the penultimate stop on this year’s Food Trail, Breezy Ridge Vineyard offered visitors a truly memorable taste of Dorset’s flourishing wine scene, combining breathtaking vineyard views, inspiring stories and exceptional local wines.

👉 Nestled in the beautiful Dorset countryside (just a couple of minutes outside Shaftesbury), guests were welcomed by Becky and the team and introduced to the journey behind the vineyard, from ambitious passion project to acclaimed producer. Along the way, they discovered the dedication, patience and craftsmanship required to transform grapes into elegant English sparkling wines.

🥂 With a glass in hand, visitors enjoyed guided tasting flights of three contrasting styles, exploring the flavours, aromas and character that make Breezy Ridge Vineyard’s wines such a precise expression of place.

✨ One of the highlights was discovering how Dorset’s unique terroir is helping define a new generation of English wines. From the influence of soil and aspect to the nuances of each growing season, guests gained a deeper appreciation of how vineyard, vintage and winemaking come together to create wines with a true sense of place.

💫 Set against the refined backdrop of the vineyard’s visitor centre and cellar door tasting room, guests explored the wines in depth, comparing vintages, sharing tasting impressions and celebrating the growing reputation of Dorset as a serious wine-producing region.

🥂✨ Guests left with a deeper appreciation of how vineyard, setting and winemaking expertise really come together … where every detail, from site to cellar, shapes the final expression in the glass. It was a reminder of just how far English wine has come, and where it is heading next.

💛 With sincere thanks to the Breezy Ridge Vineyard team for such an open and generous welcome … a visit our guests will remember long after the final glass 🥂🍾

📸 Photography courtesy of Melanie Aldridge Photography ()

02/06/2026

🫒✨ Food Trail Spotlight: Olives Et Al

☀️Mediterranean sunshine meets Dorset creativity at one of the county’s most flavour-packed producers …

As the eighth stop on this year’s Food Trail, Olives Et Al brought bold, vibrant flavours and a true sense of culinary adventure to the heart of the Dorset countryside 🌿🌍

Originally inspired by travels through southern Europe, Olives Et Al has grown into one of Dorset’s most recognisable artisan food brands, known for crafting everything from marinated olives and antipasti to dressings, sauces and pantry staples enjoyed far beyond the county.

🚙 💫 Food Trail guests explored the full flavour journey on site, sampling an impressive range of products and discovering how global inspiration is translated into expertly made, everyday food. From artisan breads and tasting plates to their newly launched Vivo Verde Green Olive Tapenade, every bite offered something fresh, bright and full of character.

🌿 What makes Olives Et Al so distinctive is its ability to blend international influence with Dorset craftsmanship … a kitchen rooted in creativity, independence and a genuine passion for flavour.

💫 This stop offered a delicious reminder that Dorset’s food scene isn’t just about local tradition, but also about curiosity, travel and the ideas from overseas that shape modern British artisan food.

✨ A huge thank you to the entire Olives Et Al team for welcoming our Food Trail guests so warmly and sharing your world of flavour, passion and generosity. You made this a standout and thoroughly delicious stop on the journey.

📸 Photography courtesy of Olives Et Al

02/06/2026

🧀💙 Food Trail Spotlight: Dorset Blue Vinny

Born from thrift, perfected over generations and proudly Dorset for more than 300 years, Dorset Blue Vinny is a delicious piece of living food heritage and one of the county’s most iconic foods.

As the seventh stop on this year’s Food Trail, visitors enjoyed a fascinating opportunity to step behind the scenes at Woodbridge Farm and discover the remarkable story behind one of Britain’s most distinctive regional cheeses.

🐄Melanie Aldridge Photography using milk from their own herd, Dorset Blue Vinny traces its origins to a time when farmwives would first make butter, then transform the skimmed milk left behind into a nutritious cheese. What began as a practical way to avoid waste gradually became woven into the fabric of Dorset’s agricultural and culinary history.

📜 Over three centuries later, that tradition continues. Food Trail guests learned how Dorset Blue Vinny survived near extinction before being lovingly revived, preserving a unique cheesemaking legacy for future generations.

💙 With its distinctive crumbly texture, delicate blue veining and wonderfully savoury character, Dorset Blue Vinny is instantly recognisable. Every wheel tells a story of resilience, craftsmanship and a deep connection to the Dorset landscape, carrying more than 300 years of farming and cheesemaking heritage in every bite 🧀🍎

One of the great pleasures of the visit was meeting the team behind the cheese, including founder Mike Davies. Guests heard first-hand about the cheesemaking process, the challenges and rewards of preserving a traditional product, and the passion that continues to drive the business forward today.

👉 For many visitors, seeing where Dorset Blue Vinny is made and learning more about its remarkable journey added a whole new appreciation for a cheese they thought they already knew. It was a reminder that behind every great local product lies generations of knowledge, dedication and pride.

🧀🍻 More than 300 years after it was first made, Dorset Blue Vinny continues to delight food lovers, support local farming and proudly fly the flag for Dorset on cheeseboards across the country.

🙏🏻 Our sincere thanks to the Davies family and the entire Dorset Blue Vinny team for their warm welcome, generosity and enthusiasm. Your commitment to preserving Dorset’s food heritage made this a truly memorable and inspiring part of the Food Trail 🚘

📸 Photography courtesy of Melanie Aldridge Photography ()

02/06/2026

A feast for the senses at Pythouse Kitchen Garden 🌿🔥✨

Even though Pythouse Kitchen Garden was unable to welcome walk-in visitors as planned on Food Trail day due to unforeseen circumstances, we would still like to extend our heartfelt thanks for being part of this year’s Shaftesbury Food Festival.

✨💐 Had visitors been able to experience the stop in full, they would have discovered one of the region’s most inspiring food destinations, set within a magnificent 18th-century walled garden in the Wiltshire countryside.

🌱 Pythouse is renowned for its garden-to-plate philosophy, where fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers grown just steps from the kitchen help shape menus that celebrate seasonality, sustainability and flavour.

🥕🌿 Guests would have explored a setting where growing and cooking are intrinsically linked, gaining an insight into how the changing seasons influence both the garden and the dishes created from its harvest.

🍽️ 🥂 From carefully cultivated produce to thoughtfully sourced local ingredients, Pythouse embodies the values at the heart of the Food Trail: provenance, craftsmanship and a deep connection between the land and what ultimately reaches the plate.

💫 While circumstances prevented the planned visit from taking place, we were delighted to include Pythouse on the Food Trail and hope many of our visitors will return to experience this remarkable destination for themselves in the future.

🙏🏻 Our sincere thanks to the Pythouse team for their support of the Food Trail, and we send our best wishes to everyone in the team.

📸 Photography courtesy of Sprigs Co.

02/06/2026

🌿🐄✨ From rich organic soils to exceptional farm-to-fork produce, Primrose Organic Produce offered Food Trail visitors a wonderful taste of Dorset farming at its very best.

💚 As the fifth stop on this year’s Shaftesbury Food Festival Food Trail, Primrose Organic offered a fascinating behind-the-scenes experience at Lymburghs Farm in Marnhull, where three generations of the Primrose family have been nurturing the land for more than 60 years.

🌱 Today, the farm is a thriving organic enterprise producing seasonal vegetables, free-range eggs, pasture-fed Red Devon beef and mutton, all underpinned by regenerative farming practices that put soil health, biodiversity and sustainability first.

🐄🥕 Visitors discovered the journey from field to fork, learning how thoughtful farming and careful stewardship of the land translate into exceptional food. From freshly harvested vegetables to home-reared meats and artisan products sourced from like-minded local producers, every element reflected a commitment to quality, provenance and flavour.

💫 One of the highlights was hearing directly from the people behind the produce, whose passion, knowledge and dedication brought the story of the farm vividly to life.

🚙 Missed this stop on the Food Trail?

🚜 There’s another chance to experience some of the magic this Open Farm Sunday, 7th June. Join Jim for a farm walk and meet the beautiful Dorset Red cows at 11am, enjoy an organic BBQ from noon, and explore the chickens and vegetable gardens with Gilla on a guided walk at 2pm. It’s the perfect opportunity to relive some of the Food Trail atmosphere and discover more about this remarkable organic farm.

🙏🏻 A heartfelt thank you to the entire Primrose Organic Produce team for opening your gates, sharing your knowledge and inspiring our visitors. Your commitment to producing food with care for both people and planet perfectly captures the spirit of the Food Trail 🌿💛

📸 Photography courtesy of Melanie Aldridge Photography ()

02/06/2026

Expressing heartfelt thanks to Madjeston Milk Station (swipe to the end for a feline surprise ...) for their support of this year’s Food Trail🍦🐄✨

💙A huge thank you to the entire team at Madjeston Milk Station for welcoming
participants to the fourth stop on this year’s Food Trail, offering a sensational combination of farming, family enterprise and delicious Dorset-made ice cream 🍦

🐄 Set on a working dairy farm near Gillingham, Madjeston Animal Park gives visitors a unique opportunity to connect with agriculture while learning more about the journey from farm to food. At the heart of the business is a passion for dairy farming and making the most of the high-quality milk produced by their own herd.

🍦 For many of our visitors, the highlight was discovering their award-winning ice cream, lovingly made using milk from the farm's own cows. From classic favourites to creative seasonal flavours (our favourite was the latest addition to the portfolio: Gold), the ice cream is a wonderful example of Dorset staple produce transformed into something truly special ✨

🏡 The visit offered a fascinating insight into how a modern family farm has diversified while remaining firmly connected to its agricultural roots.

💫 From meeting the animals to hearing about the farm's story and, of course, enjoying a vast array of ice cream flavours, this stop perfectly captured what the Food Trail is all about: connecting people with the producers behind the food they love.

✨ 🙏🏻 Thank you Madjeston Milk Station team for opening your gates, sharing your passion and giving our Food Trail participants such a memorable experience. Nick’s hospitality and enthusiasm made this a standout stop on the trail 🍦🚜💛

📸 Photography courtesy of Melanie Aldridge Photography ()

01/06/2026

A celebration of truly great food at Compton McRae🧀🥖✨

As the third stop on this year’s Shaftesbury Food Festival Food Trail, Compton McRae offered visitors a wonderful opportunity to immerse themselves in a local business where a love of exceptional food is at the heart of everything they do 💗

🧀 Tucked away at Chaldicott Barns, this family-run deli, café and cheese destination has built a loyal following through its commitment to artisan produce, carefully sourced ingredients and genuine food Compton McRaeom its highly acclaimed cheese room to its thoughtfully curated selection of local and speciality products, every corner reflects a passion for quality and craftsmanship.

👉 Food Trail participants were given a fascinating insight into the story behind the business, discovering how a simple love of great food has grown into one of the area's most respected culinary destinations. Conversations about cheese, charcuterie, local produce and the importance of supporting artisan makers were enjoyed throughout the visit.

🥂 What makes Compton McRae so special is its ability to bring people together around food - whether that's over a leisurely lunch, a cheese tasting, a special event or simply sharing knowledge and enthusiasm with visitors. Their focus on produce made with care and consideration perfectly aligns with the values at the heart of the Food Trail.

✨ Thank you to Bill, Alice and the entire team for welcoming our Food Trail guests so warmly and for sharing your passion, expertise and hospitality. You helped make this year's Food Trail a truly memorable experience for everyone involved 🧀💛

📸 Photography courtesy of

01/06/2026

A delicious stop at Sorelle Dorset 🍰☕✨

💐The second stop on this year’s Shaftesbury Food Festival Food Trail took visitors to the wonderful Sorelle Dorset, where great food, warm hospitality and plenty of character were all on the menu.

🌿🫖 🌸 With its rustic charm, carefully curated antiques, creative upcycling and beautiful countryside setting, Sorelle offers a unique space that feels both welcoming and full of personality. It’s a place where every detail reflects the passion and creativity of the dedicated sisters, Tilly and Natalie, behind it 💞

🍰 Food Trail guests discovered an enterprise that celebrates all things delicious, from handmade cakes and pastries to freshly prepared brunch dishes and authentic Italian-inspired food. Whether it's a toasted focaccia sandwich, seasonal salad or a sweet treat from the counter, quality ingredients and a love of good food shine through in everything they do 🇮🇹

💫 More than just a café, Sorelle is a destination that combines creativity, hospitality and a genuine passion for bringing people together through food.

✨ Thank you to the entire Sorelle Dorset team for welcoming our Food Trail participants and sharing your beautiful venue with us. Your enthusiasm, delicious food and distinctive style made this a memorable part of the day's journey.

📸 Photography by

Shaftesbury Food Festival

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