THERE will be lots to get your teeth into at The Forest Showcase Food Festival on Sunday, October 6.

From the nutritional and healthy, to the ‘naughty but nice’, the annual event will be whetting the appetite in the grounds of The Speech House Hotel.

Organisers say the festival will feature the best fresh regional produce from more than 100 top local and artisan producers – from gourmet burgers and handmade scotch eggs, to award-winning preserves and chutneys, fine cheeses, farmhouse ciders and speciality wines, ales and flavoured gins.

Festival spokewoman Amanda Smith said: “It’s a great opportunity to get a real taste of the best of the area.

“And this year we will be offering free family foraging sessions brought to you by The Rewild Project where you can join local foragers as they take you on a family foraging walk through the beautiful Speech House woods.

“You and your children will learn how to identify and gather a range of wild foods including spices, seeds, nuts, berries, fruit and more, turning what grows in your garden and in the wild into store cupboard ingredients.

“With expert guidance, you’ll learn how to preserve all these finds to make your winter diet packed full of delicious flavours, and there will also be some wild cooking on rocket stoves and washing drums.”

The cookery theatre will also feature cookery demonstrations from some of the area’s top chefs including meat-based, vegetarian and plant-based diets, designed to get you cooking with hints, tips and secrets from the experts.

Gareth Jenkins, head chef at The Speech House will be preparing a dish using a pig’s heart from Plump Hill Farm and Wye Valley gin.

Yvette Farrell, owner of the Forest of Dean’s award-winning cookery school, will be showcasing some recipes and Dan Blewitt from Esse Stoves will be making butternut squash and chickpea curry with fragrant rice,

A new talks and tastings area will also see classic gin cocktails from Duncan Fox, owner of Haven Distillery, Matt Newell of Wye Valley Meadery, a classic cheese board from Debbie Jones, owner of The Forest Deli, and Kerry Voke from Leaf & Petal.

Matt’s journey actually started at the Forest showcase some 14 years ago when aged just 15 he approached then beekeeper Doug Isles.

Matt went on to help him with his 500 hives for weekends and school holidays and later had his own hives and began to make honey beer, and then mead, before launching The Wye Valley Meadery in Chepstow last year.

Also returning will be ‘Parent & Child’ cookery classes with healthy eating advisor and cookery teacher Glyn Owen from ‘Kids & Food’.

This year there will be bean burgers flavoured with sage, rosemary and spring onion on the menu.

Places are limited and you can book your place on these classes and the forage on the Forest Showcase website.

There will also be great live music, say organisers, plus tasty hot food from top street food vendors and some great gins, prosecco, beers, wines and ciders to try, plus children’s activities with entertainment throughout the day from Jitterbug Circus, and a Mad Science show with a lab bursting with foodie inspired chemical concoctions.

Other attrcations include free food related arts workshops with a selection of arts and crafts and green ideas on composting, a vintage cider press crushing apples, tips on vegetable growing and keeping bees.

The festival starts at 10am and tickets can be bought in advance on www.forestshowcase.org

•To be in with a chance of winning a family ticket to the The Forest Showcase Food Festival at The Speech House you can enter the Review’s great competition online.

See our front and back pages for more information.

But be quick, entries have to be emailed by 11am on Friday, October 4.