National Geographic Food Festival 2022

In 2019 the National Geographic Traveller magazine hosted its first ever Food Festival. Following the success of this event, a second one was inevitable though not possible the following year. The COVID 19 Pandemic meant that for the following two years no such event could be hosted. The second Food Festival, three years after the first, ran over the 16^th and 17^th of July 2022. Hosted at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, guests had the opportunity to try delicacies from around the world, support young new businesses and meet interesting entrepreneurs from the food-and-beverage industry. Outside of food stands, there was a range of guest speakers, prominent and obscure,slated to give talks on all things Food Journalism and Cooking. While some may debate the validity of food journalism, I feel inclined to speak to its favour (but not as it currently stands). Food is an integral aspect of human existence. We all need to eat. Not only this, but food tells a story – national dishes can link back to core aspects of culture. Take Spain and Paella, which originally came about as an easy way to feed farmers and farm labourers who were out in the fields for long stretches of time.

Yet food comes with issues too. We all know that there are areas of the world with extremely limited access to food, most famously regions in Africa. Feeding issues are not just far flung, however. There are families in our home towns struggling to feed their children three meals a day and the rising homeless population struggle daily to scrape together barely edible scraps. Eating disorders have led to the hospitalisation of millions (worsened by the advent of Social Media and the standards that accompany it). More recently, global warming has fired the debate on subjects of veganism and farming practices, while rising energy prices mean many will have to choose between heating and eating this winter.

I think the practice of Food Journalism can evolve. Lets forget “I tried Starbucks’ new winter themed latte” and move towards “the best meal plans for those on a budget”, “The best methods to transport your excess food to those in need”, “Meet London’s newest Food Bank” or “How to cook for your loved ones moving recovering from an eating disorder”. Jaimie Oliver has recently moved from cooking to campaigning for more free school meals for kids, which is the sort of movement I think the industry needs to magnify. So is Food Journalism real journalism (such as when The Economist publishes a story on a food crises) or just food porn (think self-indulgent reviews in the weekend supplements and, of course, in advertisement-driven magazines) for the middle class, or a movement for more equitable distribution of food? Right now it’s all of the above, but it can be better by focusing on the latter. Hopefully, budding journalists will pursue this angle.

All this raises the question: “Why cover the National Geographic Food Festival?”. As you may imagine, a food festival represents the former point, the ‘food porn’ so to speak. Guests can pay a fee to come and try food from all over the world then go home and book their luxurious holidays to whatever destination had the best tasting samples.Well, GVis in a position to provide a fair yet critical view of the event, commenting on both the positive and negative. Hopefully, looking at the event in a more critical view can spark readers into reimagining their approach to the role of food journalism and, indeed, the food industry

On arrival, outside the Business Design Centre, guests already got a taste (pun intended) of what to expect moving forward. I was greeted with staff from a couple of the stalls, all handing out little snacks such as crisps from their respective countries. It’s a nice welcome (especially if you’re feeling peckish), setting up the mindset that all the guests should be open to interaction and trying bits of food from around the world. It’s no coincidence that the event was held in Islington, one of London’s most cosmopolitan boroughs. Upper Street has a variety of restaurants and bars, all serving cuisines and drinks from all over the world. It’s a cosmopolitanGuardian-reader’s dream come true!

Passing through the entrance to the building, we were handed a free copy of the National Geographic Traveller Food Magazine. This is issue focused on “food”, of which a large emphasis was placed on Spanish “dishes”. Notice my quotation marks. While you may flick through the edition hoping to learn about different dishes, the ingredients, history behind them and how to prepare them, you’ll actually find that the magazine reads like a series of advertisements. I’m not just talking about the advertisements, but the features as well. See each one reads like a tour guide, telling you what restaurants to visit or the stores to peruse in order to try the foods. In other words, book a trip out to try it using us as your guide. Perhaps this is what some would expect from a global food magazine, though my expectation was to learn about different cultures, histories and learn new skills. Even those seemingly addressing food such as the feature on the West African dish Jollof Rice, merely teases you with information such as desired consistency (they say it “shouldn’t be too saucy”) before directing you in small print to the Nat Geo website for more information.

It is clear, however,that this issue of NGTFM is designed to supplement the Food Festival, as major features in the edition such as Azerbaijan mirror the key stalls in the Food Festival. The second resource guests were handed was a card leaflet. This was filled with information on the Food Festival, such as which shows were on which stage, on which day. Interestingly, there was a section in this handout dedicated to a scavenger hunt. In order to complete the hunt attendees had to collect a series of stickers from most of the stalls at the event, though these were not on the table to grab. You needed to speak to the people at the stall in order to get a sticker from them. The end result of this? Guests who complete the scavenger hunt were entered in a giveaway including a lunch for two and an assortment of foods…and they got a nice little buzz going from mixing various drinks along the hunt.

Before one even stepped foot into the main hall, we were made aware of a few key things:  who had set up the event, what to expect from the event and how to approach the event.In order to maximise our experience, we should be open to visiting each stall and having a chat with those running it. We’ve also been shown that samples of local food will be found throughout the exhibit which we are recommended to try. While this may seem like common sense considering visitors will have paid for a ticket to the National Geographic Food Festival, there were a range of guests. I spoke to one visitor who had recently moved to London from Italy, and was visiting the Food Festival as a way of getting her bearings in a new environment though she didn’t comment on the authenticity of the Italian offerings.First time guests such as these, visiting for reasons other than learning about culinary culture, would benefit from the simple yet efficient introduction to what a Food Festival is. What a ‘food festival’ should be is up for contention. Firms will see it as an opportunity to showcase their products and customers will often expect it to be more like an art exhibit, showcasing foods from around the world. As a journalist, one is caught in the midpoint, wanting to learn everything about the firm but also the culture behind it meaning more than ever you need to enter with an open mind.

Once guests filtered into the main hall, they found themselves on the main level. This was an open floor with a number of large, unique booths each pertaining to a separate country. The open floor was encircled by several stages and smaller, more uniform booths. These larger booths were reserved for the key players -sponsors of the Food Festival. These included Wales, Greece, Montenegro, Italy, Azerbaijan, Louisiana and Michigan to name a few. Each of these had a stall decorated with imagesfrom their countries, advertising the activities one can try there other than eat. This is because the Food Festival presents an opportunity to drum up tourism in each location, though the intensity of this varied between stalls.

The Montenegro staff seemed genuinely passionate about their country, with one chef remarking to me that he feels as though his country is undervalued as a land of beauty, culture and adventure. He explained to me of how he’d be thrilled if Montenegro began to receive the recognition, he believed it deserved through events such as these. The passion from the staff is quite infectious and it was genuinely brilliant to meet people with a genuine love for their home. I once looked at travelling to Montenegro, only refraining as the timing hadn’t worked out, though after my interaction here I’ve pledged to one day finally make the trip.

On the other hand, the Ecuadorian stall was much more open ended about inspiring tourism to the country, by flashing holiday deals and pictures of beaches. Speaking to the staff will result in a business card and daydreams about hiking some fantastic scenery. It is all very well for economies overly reliant on tourism and the magazine obviously caters to people who like to travel. It’s easy to make a link between the Food Festival and the underlying message: go book holidays, preferably with tour operators who advertise in NGT and NGTFM, to exotic destinations after trying exotic cuisines! Unfortunately, tourism comes at a price to the environment and I struggled to see any message at the Festival that highlighted the effects of carbon emissions caused by aircraft. The November 2022 issue of NGT carries a full-page advertisement from an aircraft charter company. That should give you an idea about where the magazines’ priorities lie.

Environmental concerns were very much swept under the carpet. Island nations like Grenada and Barbados are in the firing line. As oceans rise, more and more of these islands will lose their land mass. But, hey, if we want frequent long-haul, environmentally detrimental holidays we’ll book ‘em, right? We’ll just make the right noises at the right time about environmentally-conscious travel and Global Warming. Greenwashing-by-numbers.

And, as you knock back another cocktail from Louisiana or enrol for the prize at Michigan’s stand, know that both states are home to two of the most violent cities – New Orleans and Detroit- in the USA (the phrase ‘cap in yo’ ass’ springs to mind). Of course, this isn’t the kind of information the tourist boards and travel magazines won’t divulge but GV isn’t beholden to tourism boards and travel fairs and we’ll tell it like it is.

Between sips of rum and chunks of chocolate sales reps tell you about package holidays, the activities and travel opportunities one could expect. Similarly, Barbados was recording customer testimonials in order to showcase to others how much fun the country could be.

This is by no means meant to be a negative comment on the Food Festival. Guests are still exposed to a number of local dishes, and if anything, this encourages the staff to be more enthusiastic when talking to guests visiting each booth.These stalls also tend to provide recipes for the foods you try, such as Louisiana’s curried shrimp or Azerbaijan’s Qutabs(also known as Chudu). Alongside recipe cards there were often giveaways to package holidays, pizza ovens and more. All of this is designed to hold your attention past the end of the eventand encourage guests to do their own research at home. Though one may argue that Food Festivals are an inherently commercial event used to create business globally, I find it to be worth noting, as some guests I met were casually attending to fill an afternoon. Those entering on a whim to learn about food may be taken aback by this,seeing it as detracting from the cultural potential of the Food Festival.

Not each of the stalls fall under this category, however. The Welsh stall, for example, was comprised of a few smaller Welsh businesses rather than a singular example of culture. One such stall was Velfry Vineyard, a very young family-owned sparkling wine brand. As their first harvest was only in 2019, they cannot attend many of these shows since they only have 600 bottles, which are sold locally or from their website. Therefore, they need to reserve their attendance at shows for the significant ones, such as a National Geographic Food Festival, in order to maximise the benefit. Adjacent to Velfrey Vineyardwas the Snowdonia Cheese Company. Operating out of Wales, their brand has been active for over 21 yearsand therefore has the means to sell cheese all over the UK. Despite their reach and longevity, I’d not heard of them before which suggests that shows such as these may compensate for exhibitors’ low-key or non-existent advertising campaigns.While they previously attended shows like these often, since COVID much of their advertising has been done online, similarly only coming to significant shows such as these. Much of the time however, when asking stalls if they felt the show was a significant boost to exposure, they returned a similar stock answer: “Oh yes, it’s always good to introduce our products to new people!”. Whether or not a Nat Geo show or a show local to the headquarters is more useful, then, remains to be seen,

Here, we’re seeing something far different. The purpose of the Welsh stall, rather than to encourage tourism, appears to be giving opportunities to small Welsh brands old and new. Those who often do not have the means to attend Food Festivals are granted, for a fee, achance to have their voice heard by those who are fascinated by travel, food and culture. While this may seem more inline with what visitors may have expected from a Food Festival, it is important to remember the event is based in London. In comparison to Ecuador, Wales does not feel far away and many guests are likely to even be Welsh. Furthermore, these companies are aiming to sell to the UK whereas many of the other countries’ products have limited opportunities outside of their home country.Therefore, the priorities of attending a London based Food Festival are likely to be different from some of the more far-flung guests than they are for London’s neighbours.

This is not to say that these stalls had little to offer outside of tourism deals and business cards. One stall here stood above the rest: Azerbaijan. This stall would consistently see long queues, I waited no less than 25 minutes, and for good reason. This seemed to be the only stall on the main floor which was not trying to sell guests anything, the primary focus appearing to be sharing Azerbaijani culture and dishes with attendees. The food in question also stood apart from the rest. While the majority of stalls would batch produce taster samples, and hand them out to guests while discussing other matters, each guest at the Azerbaijan stall could order a custom made Qutab. This was a flour flatbread filled with either meat, pumpkin or herbs and could come with a range of side dishes and seasoningsincluding green onion, cheese and what I guessed to be Pink Pitaya.A core feature of the Qutab is the range of ingredients that can be employed to fit all dietary requirements, or simply preferences in flavour. This level of customisation at a food festival, in this quantity, really let the food do the talking. This was my first time trying Azerbaijani cuisine and I was immediately hooked, I think personally, it was primarily because of the intensity of the flavour in the face of the simplicity. I think the Qutab has single-handedly convinced me to travel to Azerbaijan one day.I asked a staff member why she thought the stall had such a long queue, her answer simply being, “our food’s really good”. Not only this, but later in the day they started producing a new meal entirely, a traditional rice dish by the name Plov. Seen as Azerbaijan’s national food, and similar to the Qutabs, a key feature of this dish is how versatile it is in its creation. While there are core components, such as raisins, chestnuts and lamb, chefs are free to improvise as they see fit.Personally, this was most in linewith what I expected from a Food Festival: broadening people’s minds by exposing them to new foods and cultures. It felt more as though they were sharing culture with us, not selling it to us.

There were five stages dotted around the Main floor, each with a different set of speakers which changed dependant on the day attended. The speakers ranged from celebrity guests to staff from the core stalls, and there was a variety of content touching on subjects such as food journalism and cookery classes. I found that these stages, and the way shows were approached, could have benefitted from being slightly more removed from the core stalls. Each stage consisted of a grouping of stools for guests to perch on and was located in a corner of the main hall. There are benefits and drawbacks to a setup such as this, all depending on the type of experience you are hoping for.

This structure lends itself extremely well to casual guests: between trialling delicacies at each stall, it is easy to turn your attention momentarily and listen while eating before moving onto the next stall. Alternatively, after a few hours of wandering it’s easy to take a seat and rest a bit, listening to a lecture while you do. Yet, the environment can be a bit distracting to those genuinely trying to learn attentively. In my experience, when listening to a lecture at the main stage people would commonly push past every other minute as they navigate the hall and additionally performances would spontaneously breakout nearby. One example of this was midway through Jay Rayner’s lecture, when immediately to my left a traditional Ecuadorian dance broke out among a group in traditional dress, which admittedly drew my attention away from the lecture at hand.

The first of the stages was the Wine Theatre, found on the right of the entrance door to the hall. This stage usually had the least guests because attending this stage was highly limited. It had to be pre-booked and each guest was only allowed one slot a day. I imagine few guests caught on to this, and there was an abundance of wines to sample around the Food Festival outside of the Wine Theatre so attendance was not necessary in order to get your fix.

Following this were the Cinnamon Theatre and the Saffron Theatre. These stages, unlike the Wine Theatre, did not require pre-booking to attend and were often filled with listeners. They were very similar in the content they released, showcasing speakers from each of the key stalls demonstrating how to cook a traditional dish from their country. The Cinnamon Theatre was fairly dominated by Greek cuisine, having four sessions on the first day and three on the second. The Saffron Theatre was more balanced with a wide range from all the stalls. Greece also had one of the largest stands, so their domination of the Cinnamon Theatre, I imagine,resulted from being a key sponsor for the Food Festival.

The Speaker’s corner was a more intimate experience. Smaller, slightly removed and with less seating it reminded me of sitting around a campfire with a few people. This stage was intended to allow guests to converse with the speakers in attendance, granting better opportunities to learn from experts and glean knowledge otherwise unobtainable. This goes hand in hand with the nearby table where guests could buy copies of speakers’ books and subsequently have them signed by the speakers.

Finally, the creatively named Main Stage was interestingly placed in a back corner of the room. I understand that this was to allow extra room, but as mentioned before this is surrounded by stalls and performances which were distracting and claustrophobic.By this I mean that there really wasn’t much room to move around near the main stage – there was already seating and standing onlookers, but now people also had to clear space in the walkways for dancers piling into the already crowded area. I’d have swapped the Wine Theatre and the Main Stage’s locations. Since the Wine Theatre required pre-booking, having fewer guests would have meant it was less impacted by all the activity around it. Furthermore, the Main Stage would have been more recognisable being by the entrance. This stageshowed iconic guest speakers known for their works in Food Journalism, such as MasterChef champion Ping Coombes or broadcaster Andi Oliver.

These shows were highly advertised when booking tickets for the event, so they likely would have been an important element for many of the guests. However, I found that the website had quite undersold the rest of the Food Festival, such as the stalls, thescavenger hunt, the giveaways and more. I got the feeling that these elements ultimately overshadowed some of the lectures, though this will likely be adjusted in future years.

Circling the main floor was a balcony just above. This housed a series of small businesses and start-ups ranging from coffee breweries, Indian street food, craft beer and even dog food. I found this area, away from the stages and the bulk of the crowds, the most conducive to conversing with the stalls. This was the section of the event I found the most interesting because I had the opportunity to encounter lots of small businesses, try their products and speak to their representatives who were quite often the owners.

This marks a key difference between the main floor and the upper balcony. Since the main floor was reserved for representatives from major brands or countries, the experience felt less personal. At the Italian stall, one staff member let slip that this was a one time gig for her, and while the job description asked for Italian speakers she doesn’t speak a lick of Italian. Compare this to the ring of small businesses, where the majority of staff are passionate about the product since they have a personal stake in it, and the difference in enthusiasm is palpable. For many this is an incredible opportunity to have their young brand heard, Lomitas Green Coffee for example is a Kent-based brand no older than two years. Similarly, Jandosakal is a pop-up Indian street food vendor which usually operates in markets rather than fixed locations. Events such as these open a new avenue to gaining online followers, who may then visit the popup vendor down the line.

Surprisingly, not each of the smaller companies massively benefit from attending a National Geographic Food Festival. One such firm is Black Lion Vodka. Another extremely young brand with only one year on the market, their product is sold around the Cotswolds and London. They specialise in creating vodka using sheep’s milk. Cheese is created as a by-product of the process which they also sell. The issue they found is that usually they would do outdoor events, meaning they could bring the sheep with them. This naturally attracted more guests as they came to see the animals and increased interaction with their stall. Here though, they could be found in one of the back corners of the upper balcony, and without sheep to attract customers the impact they had was diminished.Then again, do city folk really want to mingle with sheep, step on their droppings and catch a whiff of their odours? That’s more likely a countryside thing.

Similarly, the staff at other stalls also had experiences which worsen the impact. When speaking to the staff at the Parmigiano Reggiano stall, designed to showcase their exquisite parmesan cheeses, I asked the question whether they’d come again. To this one of the girls looked at me sideways and shook her head, and as it turns out hand feeding the British public cheese during a historical heatwave can lead to some poor experiences– the overheating hungry tend to snap at wait staff when cheese isn’t served in an ‘adequate’ quantity or if the queue is too long.Additionally, the woman behind me in the aforementioned, lengthy Azerbaijan queue began to get quite angry with the staff the longer she waited. It seemed outrageous to her that she had to queue, and the staff needed to know it was their fault. This isn’t to gossip, rather highlight the importance of kindness. When attending a Food Festival in the midst of a heatwave, it is important to remember that the staff are affected by this too and that they’re just people trying to make sure you have a good time, and learn a little about the world.

In addition to the food stalls, there was a series of other rooms upstairs. There was a range of seating areas,which enabled guests to take a break and have a meal if they wanted. One offshoot from the main hall led to a green roomfor the presswith free snacks and seating. Interestingly, I have struggled to find mention of any reviews these journalists may have made? Searching for reviews on the web will send you options for pieces posted before the festival, usually explaining what it will be. I did find a piece by Hannah Gregory on houseofcoco.net. The review is built around general confusion, with the key quote for me being “I’m still not 100% sure who this event was directed at”. This speaks to my earlier point of people who are expecting culinary and cultural enlightenment being met with commercial pushes. It can throw some people off, leading to the event feeling more like a small business expo than a food festival. Finally, and I may say cleverly, there was a cool down room. This was a separated area with a much lower temperature than the rest of the exhibit. Since there was an abundance of people and cooking, married with a heatwave, many guests would be at risk of overheating. This made sure there was an area in which people could stay safe, supplemented by free water dispensers found throughout the Business Design Centre. In hindsight, perhaps staging the festival at the height of a very hot summer wasn’t such a good idea and one would hope that NGT will to stage the festival in the spring or autumn next year. However, that’s not the case; the Festival has yet again been scheduled for mid-July in 2023. And, all that alcohol tasting probably just ended up dehydrating a lot of people.

Having now outlined the experience of attending the Food Festival, I want to touch upon the range of stalls to be found. Rather than listing them and what they showcase, the more fun approach would be to have a series of ‘awards’ and assigning stalls to them, whilst also highlighting what makes each one special.

Most Interesting Food

Here I’m going to catch you off guard and nominate Butterbox, a dog food brand. I already highlighted why I found that the Azerbaijani food stood out, so I thought I’d highlight another stall. That being said, Butterbox was interesting for a number of reasons. Principally, it was the only food at the Food Festival not to target humans. I thought it was an interesting gamble, as there was a likelihood that hungry guests skip over the food they cannot eat. Furthermore, I noticed there was a ‘vegetarian’ option for dogfood. Speaking to the staff, I learned that this was filled with all the nutrients to keep your pets healthy. While a debate can often be had whether vegetarian food is unfair on dogs, it is undeniably unique for a business to come to a food festival and showcase vegetarian food humans can’t eat.

Most Interesting Drink

I referred to it earlier, and I’m sure that it caught your attention then, but the Black Lion sheep’s milk Vodka stood out to me. There was an abundance of wine throughout the Food Festival, tea and coffee could be found at a few stalls, and there was more than one rum seller. Black Lion stood out not just by selling a different drink, but one which was produced differently. When we see Vodka, we think potatoes and Eastern Europe, not usually British sheep. Not only this, but I found it to be one of the smoothest Vodkas I have ever tasted. All of this made sure Black Sheep Vodka stuck in my mind long after the Food Festival.

Most Unique Exhibit

Wales had a very interesting addition to their stall which was unavoidable since it stood opposite the Wine Theatre by the entrance. This may seem unfair, as the Welsh stand benefited by being a sponsor of the Food Festival therefore having a larger exhibit, though there was a clever marriage between modern technologies and traditional foods. There was a virtual reality tent, filled with tables and chairs. The inside walls of this tent displayed a 360 degree view of the sky, a field and trees. In other words, you were given the illusion of being in a Welsh field as you ate the food. I imagine this is not for everyone as you’re being shut into a digital tent, indoors, during a heatwave. Regardless, it was a creative way to bring Wales to London.

The Best Show

I’d argue this is the most subjective of the awards as each show was covered a different topic in a different way. The show which has stayed with me the longest was Jay Rayner’s guest appearance. Jay Rayner is one of the UK’s widest know Food Journalists, acting as an author, a broadcaster and a restaurant critic. What stuck with me is Jay telling us all to kill ourselves. You likely need context. This was his explanation for how we can reduce our carbon footprint,that the most effective way to not have one is to not exist. He compared buying organic food to reduce a carbon footprint with buying clothes from TK Maxx to stick it to Gucci. Truthfully, I agree that most of us could do more to reduce our carbon footprint. Do I think we should all kill ourselves? No not yet, and I can’t expertly comment on the minutia between organic and regular goods in the supermarket. But in my own life, I’ve reduced my meat consumption, water heavy foods such as avocados and soy related foods. On most days I have a near-entirely plant based diet, with the exemption of milk in my coffee or cheese on my pasta.Oh what’s that? Yes, I do get the irony of a travel writer spreading messages about reducing carbon footprints. But, Global Voyagers is a publication that asks readers to limit their travel and, if possible, use less environmentally detrimental forms of transport. The magazine will endeavour to send its writers on trips to Europe using trains as much as possible.

I honestly feel as though there is an intrinsic arrogance which comes with my preaching of carbon emissions, making me hesitant to do so, along the lines of “Carbon emissions are bad so you should all do something about how you eat while I travel to xyz”.Yet, I feel as though encouraging everyone to make slightly different decisions can make a difference which will allow us all to enjoy our planet, as I’ve been lucky to, for longer. Will eating organic steak over regular steak save the world? Like Jay I highly doubt that. Would everyone having one vegetarian meal a week (not even giving it up entirely) make a difference? Different story. Back to Jay, his jovial approach to hosting the lecture and insight to working in food journalism inspired me to continue reading about this myself, ultimately the goal of any good lecture.

Most Diverse Merchandise & Friendliest Host

Originally two separate awards, I ended up combining them as I thought one stall deserved both. Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing gets its name from the product it sells, low or zero alcohol beer which does not compromise on flavour (hence the play on a common phrase). Not only could you buy cans of their various flavours of beer, but there were also various clothing times such as tie-dye t-shirts and hats. They also had a beer tap and plant-based cups to serve ice cold pints of low alcohol beer, which I found to be pretty incredible due to the heat of the room. What’s more, the owner of the company spoke to me openly and enthusiastically for no less than fifteen minutes. He gave me samples of each flavour while he told me the story behind Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing and how it began only a year ago in his kitchen with his dog, Max. Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing stood out to me as one of the most passionate and energetic young brands at the event.

Food acts as a medium through which people can have adventure. This can be applied in a number of ways. Often Food Festivals are seen as an opportunity to travel though taste, and this is absolutely true. I’ve never been to India, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Barbados, Ecuador or Montenegro and yet I’ve tried some of their most iconic foods. Not only this, but national foods typically tell a story about the place from which they originate. Indian street food, for example, is cheaply made and very filling – perfect for poorer families eating on a budget. I also got to speak to locals from the countries, for example the Montenegrins who expressed their true feelings about how the country is represented, in that they feel it is severely underrepresented. A smaller country, surrounded by tourist titans such as Croatia, Italy and Greece struggles to get its voice heard, despite being stunning. The medieval town of Kotor has been a bucket list destination of mine for years. All of thisallowed me to learn about countries I’ve never travelled.

Furthermore, we can see brave new brands producing adventurous new foods. Fresh takes on the production of Vodka demonstrate our ability to adapt and grow. Young beer brands promoting healthier lifestyles through less alcohol, and greater sustainability through plant-based materials show how one’s love for our planet can lead to progress. On a more ominous note, it’s unlikely that all the companies exhibiting at the festival will remain in business by the time the next festival comes around. Budgets and profits for these start-ups are very thin at the best of times and at a time when inflation has hit multi-decade highs, can people really afford to splurge on £60 bottles of vodka and expensive organic wine?

While some of the staff had issues with the public, others told me they had a good time. The opportunity to teach others about your culture while having the opportunity to wander and learn yourself is a fun day at work and they’d be happy to come to the next one. I’d mirror this statement, though with the added caveat that you can only make the most of an event like this if you are open to interaction. Talking and asking questions to those at each stall provides opportunity to find new favourite brands and foods. In my case there are many brands I intend to buy from in the future.  Moving forward I’m aiming to attend more Food Festivals of various sizes when I can. I enjoyed learning about new small businesses and meeting interesting people, and events such as these provide great opportunities to do this. Ultimately, if you’re interested in food, travel or small businesses then the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival is a great way to explore these interests.